


Numerals

by Peachyclean



Category: League of Legends
Genre: Canon Lesbian Relationship, Cute, Dark, Drama, Drama & Romance, F/F, Gay, Good Cop Bad Cop, LGBTQ Themes, Romance, Slow Burn, Trauma, Useless Lesbians, Yuri
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-29
Updated: 2021-02-03
Packaged: 2021-03-02 20:01:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 25
Words: 60,074
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24442510
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Peachyclean/pseuds/Peachyclean
Summary: Vi never knew where she came from, she gave up trying to find her parents, Zaun is all she knows. Could a newly acquainted Sheriff break through enough barriers to find out who Vi really is? Then again, maybe some stones are better left unturned.
Relationships: Caitlyn/Vi (League of Legends)
Comments: 68
Kudos: 155





	1. i

\------HEY. Im awful and decided that amongst my final year of studies and falling-apart-life-story I should write a whole fanfic thats not just drabble.Ive spent months editing this first chapter because I dont actually write and have no idea what im doing :))  
A shrill ringing echoed through one of Piltover's most established homes, prompting a few footsteps and a man gruffly clearing his throat. "Hello, Angevin speaking, who might this be?" the man spoke into the reciever, his white moustache tickling the end of the telephone as he spoke.------

"Hello? It's Caitlyn. I wondered if I might be able to speak with you about something. It's a somewhat speculative...subject." Angevin knitted his fluffy white eyebrows together. "Hm? My dear I do believe a visit might be in order, this sounds like it might not be a telephone-worthy conversation." Caitlyn nodded silently, biting the end of her index finger. "Indeed, I shall be there in half an hour. Thank you Sir." Was she doing the right thing asking Angevin? Maybe she should have just gone for it...He would be old fashioned about it.. but after all, he did teach her everything.

Approaching the beautiful piltovian home Caitlyn thought back to the first time she entered this house, a strange day that she certainly didn't anticipate. I don't suppose Angevin will anticipate this one. She knocked on the door firmly. Rushed footsteps followed and promptly opened the heavy wooden door. "Miss Caitlyn!" This must be Angevin's new house keeper. She smiled and stepped back against the door to let her through. "He's expecting you, you'll find him in the study Ma'am."

Caitlyn stepped down the hallway, the house smelt of brass polish and the floorboards creaked under her boots as she reached the study door. She lifted a fist to knock on the dark wood.

"Come in." Angevin was sat at his desk with his glasses at the end of his nose, silver fluffy eyebrows furrowed as he stared down at a newspaper puzzle. "Ah Caitlyn, delightful to see you. You'll have to excuse my distraction I was in deep thought. Mustn't let my mind turn to mush now!"

"I would expect no less." She said smiling fondly. "Shall we take tea to the garden?"

Angevin lead the way to the hallway and through to the big frosted doors. The breeze breathed its way into grand hallway as the doors flew open, the air smelt fresh and natural, a pleasantly surprising contrast to the pungent city fumes. Caitlyn closed her eyes and let the smell steal her back to her childhood for a second. Angevin looked to her and chuckled, starting to walk down the stone steps.

They sat on the small table on the patio on intricate iron chairs, welcoming the sound of footsteps and a teatray - complete with a rather large pot of tea.

"Thank you Amaly." The housemaid smiled and nodded, leaving them to talk. The girl walked away, the frills of her dress fluttering behind.

"How are you Caitlyn? I hear these last couple of weeks have been quiet for Piltover."

"Somewhat quiet. The odd altercation.. so to speak." Caitlyn whispered the last part and gently crossed her ankles under the seat.

"Aha. Nothing you can't handle my dear." Angevin said confidently pouring out a cup for the both of them.

"Well -thank you- actually I've been meaning to ask, at what point did you trust that I was .. right for the force." He looked at her speculatively for a few seconds, the focus of his eyebrows nudging his glasses slightly downwards.

"Why you were young, focused, determined and nothing ever bloody distracts if I'm to be so blatent. Nothing has changed over time, and if anything you're probably too focused.. you do need to let yourself have a life outside of work you know." Has he been speaking to my mother...

"Surely there must have been some risk to it? Just hiring someone you don't really know, with no training or real experience.." She said.

"Caitlyn please you were doing better than most of the men calling themselves wardens at the time. Riley worked closely with you on that first case and he knew you were working with the same motives as us. I taught you everything and you wouldn't be here without that now would you? Now stop beating about the bush, who is it you want to take on?" Angevin said, he took a long sip of tea in the following pause. Her mouth parted slightly as she thought carefully. Of course he knew what I was thinking, he's the one who taught me to notice everything.

After a small sip she cleared her throat and smoothly began to speak. "She'd be at my side at all times, always in my sights. We wouldn't technically be employing her as such. Not yet anyway.."

"Caitlyn."

"Vi." She stared at the teacup biting her lip, waiting for a quick sharp response.

"Vi? That girl, with the giant fists and unruly hair."

"Yes."

"The same girl that gave the Delaney brothers memory loss in a pub brawl."

"..Yes"

"The girl that drunkenly tripped and took down an entire Zaunite pub."

"I didn't know about that part actually.."

"Hmm.." he said twirling the end of his white moustache. "Didn't she disappear?"

"I've had recent sightings, but in Piltover this time."

"Well." He said, lighting up his pipe. "I think it could work. She's an outlandish character, but I trust under your control she could have potential. Six weeks probationary period I'd suggest, if she gets in any way out of line, the council will be on her quicker than she can say ' I tripped'. " Caitlyn nodded deep in thought.

"It would be a waste to send her down like the rest of them, as far as I've seen she is a criminal, but there's just something different in her." Angevin watched her with warm eyes, he'd watched her grow into his old role, possibly more comfortably than he did in his time. If there was any good in someone Caitlyn would see it. She wouldn't let someone go to prison for lending a heavyhanded-hand. Well not without a little push in the right direction beforehand.

\-----Pleaasse review or like it or SOMETHING but fair dos if not its slow to start ;) ;)-------


	2. ii

\-----Hey, sorry its been a while, uni is murdering my mental health so I haven't been writing as much - woooops.----

Vi leant against the metal doors of the tavern, pushing them open lazily, the smell of stale beer and sweat poured out of the bar, this was her home.

A few heads turned as her and her giant fists walked into the tavern. She recognised most of the faces, there were newcomers that stared - a little terrified. Some of the familiar faces grinned a hello towards her she nodded towards them as a greeting before heading to the back of the bar. She had worked behind it at one stage, that didnt go well, and she understood when Laszlo told her it wasn't going to work. Her and Lazlo went way back, he taught her how to fight properly and how to look after herself a bit better. He didn't mind that she kept the huge metal hands in their back room - at least it meant she wasn't using them in his pub- which he'd also had to talk to her about previously.

She came back out from the back door flexing out her bandaged fingers. She swung behind the bar and grabbed herself a glass, Laszlo rolled his eyes and stood in front of her with his arms crossed.

"Aw come on.." she said holding the glass out towards him.

"One. For old times sake. The rest you're payin for. Now piss off!" She grinned cockily walking round to the punter side of the bar and kneeling awkwardly on a stool.

"Hows it been? Ya hear about the sunsnipe that went missin last week?" Laszlo opened his mouth to respond but stopped as the backdoor opened behind him.

"Sorry I'm late, the hexconveyor was stuck -" She was new, tying a black apron around her waist, she fumbled a little tying the knot. The girl looked up at Laszlo and grimaced at his look of disaproval, pulling her blonde locks up into a ponytail. Vi watched the exchange, the girl was pretty, in a strange way, there was a scar across her cheek and her red lips that were somewhat.. hypnotising...to watch..

"Vi." Lazlo said handing her the drink he'd filled up.

"Finally replaced me huh?" she said smirking at him, it was a few years ago that she'd worked there, so he knew she was just messing with him.

"This is Lira." She nodded towards Vi. "Used to work in Piltover, didn't ya?" He said. Lira rolled her eyes to the ceiling, Zaunites weren't really keen on the old 'towering city of progress.'

"Wasn't for me, couldn't stick their dumb customs and of course...I missed this place.." She said with a smile. Her teeth were perfect, she obviously took pride in her hygeine, seemed a little out of place, but each to their own.

"I've been up a few times, just pissed me off really, seeing their stupid snooty faces with their pish posh accents." Vi snorted, mimicking the upper accents of Piltover. Lira laughed quietly and leant against her side of the bar.

"And you are?" She said, eyebrows raised.

"The one! The only-"

"Vi, shut up." Laszlo said shaking his head still bewildered by how cocky Vi was.

"Killjoy." She held out her hand. "Nice to meet your aquaintance Lira".

"What did ya do to your hands sweetheart?" Said Lira, gently holding up Vi's bandaged hand.

"Uh yeah I have giant metal fists that I wear mooost of the time, girls gotta defend herself ya know?"

She looked taken aback by the response. "You can't be too careful around here.."

"What Vi is trying to say is she loves beatin people up more than anything." Lazlo said. Vi rolled her eyes, and mouthed 'why' as he looked at him. He always had a habit of scaring off her game.

"I'm curious." Lira said walking over to pour out a fresh whiskey for old Jorge, who returned every night - to escape his grumpy wife.

"Really Lira?" Lazlo said.

"Yeah, really. Kinda wanna see what this infamous Vi can do." The way her voice sounded when she said her name. By the gods did she wanna hear that again... and again.

"Bet ya 300 silver cogs you can't beat him." Lazlo said scoffing whilst he dried a wine glass. Vi leaned back on the barstool -almost losing her balance - seeing who he meant.

"Like fuck would I even have 300 silver cogs to bet on Lazlo." He grinned, pulling another pint behind the bar.

"Scared?"

"Pfft. You know I ain't! Hey you-" She said swinging off of the stool, loosing a fair amount of her drink to the floor.

Vi returned with the huge man in tow, his shoulder was augmented slightly, enough to put anyone else off wrestling him, but not Vi. She had a grin plastered over her face, any chance to show off her strength she'd take gladly.

"Whats your wager lady?" The man said in a deep throaty voice. Vi looked towards Lazlo and Lira raising her eyebrows waiting for suggestions.

"If Vi loses, she has too... ask someone from Piltover on a date." Lazlo said, with a grin.

"Been there, done that. Great night actually she- "

"The sheriff." Lira said quickly "Ask thr sheriff of Piltover on a date."

Lazlo laughed loudly clapping at Lira's suggestion - a few people turned and shouted agreemnets and the tables surrounding them erupted into laughter.

"The one with the pretty hair?" Someone shouted, the man next to him whispered something and they burst into laughter. Lira grimaced at the thought of what they could have possibly said.

Vi's smile quivered slightly "The one with the really big gun.."

"Whoever wins gets their drinks paid for for the evening, but Vi if you lose. You have to ask the sheriff of Piltover on a date." Laszlo held out his hand to shake on it. The huge man just stared at them all blankly, he didn't smile or laugh he just sat at a table and readied himself, clearly not bothered about being a part of their bet.

"Oh noo... I'll just have to win.." She said sarcastically, sitting herself on the opposite side of the table in view of Lira and Lazlo.

Laszlo held up a sarcastic thumbs up and then shook his head, mopping up the side.

Vi, readied herself, looking into the sharp green eyes of her opponent, his metal shoulder glinted in the light, the skin surrounding it was mottled grey.

Punters surrounded them, and a man named Jared took it on himself to stand at the edge of the table to referee. He made sure their elbows were aligned and flat to the table and then he counted: 3...2...1...

It started fairly, people cheered around them as their fists grasped eachothers with equal force. Vi looked up towards his eyes, he had weakness somewhere- but she heard a laugh, a perfect laugh- she looked up to see Lira elbows bent leaning forward against the bar, her top revealing a lot more than before - did she just wink at me? And just like that Vi's arm was slammed against the table. Defeat.

the evening after *

"Go on then Vi." Lazlo chided mockingly.

"Where's fucking Lira?! This was her idea and she's not even here."

"You're trying to buy time.."

"FINE." She said in a huff, she tried to smooth her hair out a little so it had looked a bit better.

The sheriff was patrolling, she'd stopped to talk with an old lady, who had stopped outside a cafe to look at a menu. The woman smiled and thanked her, wishing her well. She turned and walked towards Vi, Vi looked back to Laszlo and everyone else who had heard the rumours of her lost bet and came to be entertained. Lazlo rubbed his forehead, genuinely a little nervous for Vi now it had come to it.

"Fine afternoon isn't it." Vi said, trying not to sound too Zaun as she approached her. As she neared the woman she realised she'd never considered what she'd look like. Her face was stern, she had a sharp jawline, but soft pale looking skin.

"Why yes, it is. I do love it when the sun sets the way it is now.." the sun had turned a golden orange colour, the light painted itself across her face. She looked towards the sun glinting through the clouds and reflecting off of the buildings, she sighed slightly.

"Always gotta appreciate someone who knows true beauty.." Vi said quietly as she watched the sheriff calmly gaze into the sun. Her eyes flicked towards her, aiming through her, a silent interrogation. It was as if her eyes were made of glass, and they could cut through anything they wanted, but they were smooth as well, a pretty shade of blue.

"I wanna ask ya something. I know you're sheriff and all, and you probably have zero time for yourself let alone me but.. would you let me take you somewhere sometime, when the sun sets like this again, I know a place.." Caitlyn stared into the brave lilac eyes, they paused for a second, she seemed a little stunned, well so did Vi, she almost couldn't believe what she'd just said.

"That would be.. nice actually."

"What?! Uh I mean yeah if you wanna just maybe meet at the clocktower.. the next time the sun goes all orangey."

The sheriff laughed quietly, looking towards the direction of the clock tower. She turned back and smiled elegantly, she held out a hand "Caitlyn."

Vi really didn't know the customs in Piltover, was she meant to kiss her hand or what? She figured a handshake would suffice, but of course she held it longer than customary.

"Name's Vi."

Caitlyn stood in front of the mirror, she scrunched up her nose, the blonde hair certainly wasn't to her liking.

She lauged as she unbuttoned her shirt, if her mother or father had seen her playing the role of a flirty zaunite barmaid they would have fainted. She wiped of the red lipstick and pulled the wig off, her violet locks dropping out across her shoulders. She really did think it would be harder to pursue Vi, of course if Caitlyn had approached Vi in uniform, she wouldn't have given her the time of day. This way was much better. Although Vi would probably disagree..

\---I really couldn't decide if Caitlyn was gonna go undercover or not so I hope you liked it! Thank you for the reviews as well they always make me soo excited to write :33----


	3. iii

\-----Hey my god I'm sorry I haven't updated in a year. SO much has happened. I have since started a game art course and came out as a lesbian T_T but i'm feeling inspired now so yay------

"Miriam, Miriam!" She hissed, her head peering through the door, eyes almost bursting out of their sockets.

"What on earth is the matter Cherie?" She said peering over her half spectacles, she was a bigger woman, next to Cherie they looked like complete opposites.

"There's a man here - says he wants two of em.."

Two? Two children?" She glared through her, in the direction of the corridor.

"I know we don't usually accept offers from a single ..potential parent... but if he wants a pair -" she paused waiting for a response from Miriam.

"We can get rid of those damn sisters for good."

"Yes.." Cherie said quieter, sounding a little more guilt struck. "They can go together like we said."

Miriam got out of her chair and ushered the skinnier woman out of the doorway. They shuffled to the end of the corridor, it was late, the children were asleep, well meant to be.

The man was sitting at the desk, his back facing them, he looked strange, not exactly parental..

"Hello, Mister..?"

"Sastle."

"I'm Miriam Morley, housekeeper and owner of Hope House.. Cherie here tells me you're interested in adopting some of our ..delightful angels.."

Cherie glared, she was a younger woman, who had aims in life, but they were thwarted by the loss of her own parents, she had actually wanted to work in Hope House because she wanted others to feel safe. Miriam however was only there for the money, she added bills of upkeep unto every child that was adopted and pocketed it herself.

"Sir, you must understand we really prefer our children to go to families in which there are ..two guardians.." Cherie said smiling sympathetically. "Which -ahem, Sir, is why we just want to ask a few questions."

"All in the protocol and with the safety of the children in mind of course." Miriam said trying steer the situation as best she could. Cherie saw the side eyes burning in her direction and shifted uncomfortably in her seat. The man nodded in front of them.

He was strange looking man, his hair was dark and loose, slightly off centre; his face was angular and sharp looking, and his eyes a sickly green hue. Cherie made her mind up, she didn't trust him. "What is your occupation sir?" Cherie said directly.

"I work in a lab, we research the chemical run offs, the aim is to find a universal neutraliser to prevent combustion. You see.." He paused to look to the floor. "I once had a child, a wife...a happy home."

"I'm terribly sorry sir, you don't have t-"

"We lived in the lower parts of Zaun -" he said, over animating his words. "The chemical run off had began to pool next to our home, I had worked and worked to push it back, but one day when I returned from work, the house was emgulfed in bright green flames... Incredibly common it is, for run off to spontaneously combust in front of ya." He said matter-of-factly.

This all sounds a little over the top.. Cherie thought to herself. She looked over to Miriam, who wiped a tear from her eye. She sniffled and reached for the mans hand. "At least there is still some good in this city!" The man grinned, though the grin laid somewhere between evil and pleased, and Cherie couldn't for the life of her decide which.

"I just wanted to adopt two children, of course so that neither will ever feel alone, being an orphan must be hard ..and they could keep my mind off of my loss.." He cleared his throat.

"Of COURSE!" Miriam said squeezing the man's hand, her face full of sympathy. "Though I must reiterate..it is for the children's safety that we prefer a.. co-parent situation." She said, her face turning into a false smile as she whispered.

"Will this cover it Ms Morley?" He said, throwing a sack of gold cogs to the desk.

Miriam's eyes bulged out of her head.

"We have the perfect children for you!" Miriam said throwing herself out of her chair. "We'll be right back -"

Cherie jumped out of her seat and swung out of the room in pursuit of her colleague.

"Miriam! Do you really trust him? I have a bad feeling about this man.."

"Oh Cherie do stop dithering, you had a bad feeling about the cupcakes Rina made the other week, but you still polished those off didnt you!" Cherie glared.

"We'll do a home check in a week if it stops you worrying."

* * *

The three of them were in the escalator up to Zaun. Vi, Laszlo and the huge guy who had beat the arm wrestle- who they had later found out his name was Joel.

Vi had her arms crossed over her stomach, Laszlo was looking at her with a smug grin on his face, and Joel, well Joel was Joel he doesn't do much, the other two weren't sure why he came.

"This is stupid." Vi pouted.

"Only because you lost." Laszlo said, he was leaning on the lever that pulled up the lift.

"She's gonna kill me. She's literally going to shoot me."

"Ain't she a sniper?"

"She's the sheriff, she'll find a way."

"Maybe she'll bite.." He said nudging her in the ribs.

"Me and the sheriff of Piltover. Mhm that'll work." There was a pause, and then they both burst into laughter. The lift jolted at the top as the sunlight painted their faces, Vi went quiet.

Joel pushed her forward out of the lift, Laszlo followed her, still with a cocky smile on his face.

"Uhh. As much as I love ya, I don't think you should really come with me?" She said awkwardly.

"We're gonna watch from the sidelines.. in case she reaally does fuck you up." Joel cracked his knuckles as Laszlo spoke. Vi gave him a look that said whatthefuck , without breathing a word.

"Uhh. Sure." She said rubbing the back of her hair.

"Cya! If I'm not back tonight you know where I am." She said with a wink.

"Pfft." Laszlo turned and walked away, Joel solidly walking behind.

Vi started walking to the market square, where the clock tower took centre stage. The sun had already turned warm orange, it shone beautifully through the highest buildings.

She reached the fountain at the beginning of the square, there was a woman standing there, but that wasn't Vi got closer and realised it was her, but she wasn't in uniform, just in normal clothes.. her hair swept neatly into a ponytail.

"Hey.." She turned around and smiled.

"Hello, Vi."

"Uuuh so what do you wanna do?"

"Let's take a walk." She turned on her heel before Vi could reply.

This is it, she's arresting me and I'm fucking letting her. I'm willingly letting a Sheriff walk me to jail. Vi tentatively walked behind her, trying not to let her eyes linger where they wanted too.

When they arrived, it was pretty obvious this was the planned destination, they were at the top of a very tall abandoned building, it was clearly falling to pieces and completely unsafe. The sun shone between the gaps in the beams and the sheriff sat down on the very front of what used to be a balcony, it overlooked the sunset over the docks, you could see most of the West of Piltover from here. Good spot for a sniper.

"Oh man... how did you know about this?" Vi said, sitting down, unsure how close she should be to the other woman.

"It was burnt down by a vengeful dockworker, it used to be their main building. It's a pretty good spot for keeping watch."

"There's a place, I used to go to.. like this. Just to think y know?"

"Mhm, I do." Caitlyn took a deep breath in and reached up to her hair, she pulled it out of the tight ponytail and let it fall over her shoulders. "What do you do in your own time?"

"Huh?" Vi said, a little distracted by the smell of her hair as it fell from the ponytail.

"For fun."

"Oh." Vi inwardly panicked, what does she do for fun? Punch people? "Just the usual uh.. birdwatching?"

"Vi."

She gulped. "There is a reason that I said yes.. to meeting with you."

Vi tended up in her shoulders, she inhaled ready to react.

"I've been observing you over the past coming weeks Vi." She said turning to look at her, there was a sense of trust in her voice and her eyes, she knew Vi wouldnt run.

"Really... I should be arresting you, but there's something unjust about putting away someone who goes out of their own way to deliberately target people who, quite frankly deserve it." Vi hadn't blinked for too long and her eyes were starting to sting.

"What are you-"

"I can offer you an alternate choice. A job, in the force, working with me."

"Me?"

"Yes. You."

"Doing what exactly?"

"You'll be under me, my deputy. There would be a probation period of course, this requires commitment."

"Wait so not just like pencil pushin?"

"Vi, I'm a sniper, I need someone I can trust to work with me on the frontline."

Vi bit her lip. Of course she wasn't actually going to join the wardens. That would be crazy.

"Okay so lemme get this – I work for the wardens"

"You'll work for me." Caitlyn corrected.

"I get paid for punching criminals"

"You'll get paid, and there will be limits on the violence I can promise you that."

"Look princess I ain't going nowhere without my metal babies"

"If there is combat required you may use your gauntlets, but they need to undergo regular maintenance as does any other weapon on the force. And be it on your own head if you call me princess again."

This speech was almost robotic, like she knew every question Vi would ask her. Vi knew she couldn't do it, join the guys shes been avoiding for all her life.. and in Piltover. Being raised in Zaun and stepping foot in Piltover is frowned upon let alone working there. Zaun and Piltover used to be united, but the top dogs in Piltover kept building up their city, the truth is the weight of Piltover is slowly crushing Zaun.

The poor of Zaun hold the weight of the golden city above whilst they breathe fresh air and sunlight the Zaunites choke on chem-fumes and smog. Zaunites have a lot to be angry about. Vi used to be like them, angry.

"Vi?" Caitlyn said sounding just a little concerned.

"Sorry- no can do princess" She unclenched her fists.

"If you change your mind, you know where to find me."

* * *

The smell of the bar hit her better than most of her memorable punches, home. Vi sauntered up to the bar, grinning.

Laszlo caught her eye whilst pouring a pint for shoddily augmented sumpsweeper, he carried on serving as he rolled his eyes at the stupid grin on her face. Vi arrived at the bar and tiptoed as she leant over to grab herself a glass. The sumpsweep turned to leave and Laszlo leant over to snatch the pint glass off Vi.

"As far as I know you don't work here anymore Vi." He said filling the glass with a clear gold liquid and passing it over to her.

"Shame ain't it. Hey where that blondie go?"

"Oh so you didn't come to visit me. She fucked off somewhere, didn't hear a word from her after that night, never turned up again."

"Damn it was nice to have something nice to look at for a change."

"Talking of nice things to look at-" Laszlo said enquiringly.

"Aw that's nice. You know you're not really my type though Lazzy." Vi said with a quick wink.

"How was your date, she use the handcuffs on you?" Laszlo honestly didn't believe Vi had gone to it, and half expected her to make up some smutty story about the evening.

"Ha I wish. Wait.." She cleared her throat "It wasn't a date anyway, she wanted to talk to me. I'm famous now apparently." She said taking a gulp of the cheap beer in front of her.

Laszlo furrowed his brows and leant on the back bar.

"So you just had a lil cosy chat with the Sheriff of Piltover?"

"She offered me a job."

"Bullshit" He said choking a little on his sip of water.

"Dude for once I'm being serious, said she needs someone beefy to take the hits for her or something." She took another few gulps "aand I said no."

"Have you even thought about this? You'd get paid tonnes working up there Vi, it's a better life, and you'd be doing what you love un-illegally."

"And become an ignorant Piltie? Nah I know where I came from." She said rolling her eyes up to the city above. Nothing pissed her off more than how little the Pilties care about Zaun. She came from the lowest most toxic part of Zaun, the orphanage was right at the bottom, where no one cares to look. Once you make your way up in Zaun, you don't tend to look down.

"Think about it though, if you get even a little bit of power, you could make them see, make a change Vi. Youre never gonna forget where you're from, besides, you might even find-"

"No." She said, slamming down the pint glass, a few people turned to see what the noise was, but carried on about their business soon after. "I made up my mind Laz. "  
* * *

Vi went home that night, she'd found a fallen tram carriage in the lower regions of Zaun a few months ago, that was where she'd arranged her most recent home. Vi travelled light, her fists and the tools to maintain them were what she kept with her most of the time, the longer she stayed in a place the more things she collected to call her own, but the longer she stayed there the more chance there was of having to leave. She'd gotten used to that.

She pulled down a blanket and one of the seat pillows and laid across the benches, she exhaled deeply and tried to drift off to the sound of the broken steam pipe outside.

The tram rambled onwards, jittering slowly, they sat on the bench nearest the door the small girl on her lap giggling away at the jumpy journey. Laughter echoed, they were the only ones on the tram, out the front window, the golden city, that's where they always said they'd go. Out the back window, acid green pools, gray fog, moving quickly, you couldn't see the ground, just green and gray darkness. The girl jumped off of her lap, still laughing, she skipped along the aisle between the benches.

"Wait Jessa what are you-"

She jumps.

Its quiet.

The girl is gone.

"JESSA?!" She screams."JESSA WHERE ARE YOU?"

Vi's eyes snapped open, wet and full of familiar fear.

* * *

There was a heavy knock.

The sheriff pulled open the door, her hair was tied up this time, she looked tired already.

"Vi?" She whispered.

"I changed my mind. When do I start?"


	4. IV

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> a glint of Vi's past and her first patrol

Hey it me! This one could potentially be a bit triggery in terms of medical stuff so be warned.

......

Pink

I don't know if its real. I can see the colour, they inject it and my vision, gradually turns everything to a bright pink hue. It makes me feel sick.

She says pink is the worst but maybe we're built different.

Thoughts are running a thousand miles an hour, my own head voice, vocalising every train of thought at once. I can't focus. But there's things I know - no, things my head knows. With pink, there's things I wouldn't normally think of, like there's someone living in my skull. It's so loud. Its too hard to focus.

They're testing you, you know. Said the voice in my head.

I know. I reply.

You know why?

No.

You do. How does it make you feel?

Angry. I Say.

You want to hurt them. To fight.

Yes.

A human weapon.

.. a human weapon.

Give them it, a weapon.

Who are you?

You. A fighter. We are a weapon. And we will fight.

Orange

You couldn't feel orange when it was inside. But you could feel them testing. You could hear the subdued excitement in the voices, they loved it, but they didn't want to admit it.

They tried different things, each more fucked up than the one before. "Don't gag her this time, we need to know how she reacts."

I felt sick the first time, I didn't know what to expect, they were going to hurt me, I knew that much, but I didn't know how much I would feel it.

There was the flick of a switch and then a loud vibrating buzz. He had, what looked like a pen attached to a wire, if she was on pink right now she would have known.

"Right" he said.

"Do you need a picture?"

"Its two letters you asshole."

"If you fuck it up the boss's gonna be pissed."

He ripped my shirt down and leant down on my chest with his fist. The vibration met my skin, I looked down. He was tattooing my number, on my chest, needles, ink. All I could feel was a vibration.

His eyes kept flitting up, expecting me to scream. I didn't.

"You're kidding."

"That means its working, its good"

"Yeah but -"

"Wait he said to make it visible, do it on her cheek like the others.". I only flinched because he was so close to my cheek, but I couldn't feel a thing after that.

"How didn't she even flinch?" He said, as if I wasn't there. "Wait do you think she feels pleasure?"

"Dude don't be weird she's like 10 or something."

Am I?

"We just numbered a child test subject. This whole thing is weird."

"Its for a good cause."

He rolled his eyes and started tidying away.

My left cheek. I didn't care that it was there, I couldn't see it and I couldn't feel it. I looked down at my chest, seeping ink and blood. VI. 6. Me.

Purple

Purple can't reach its true potential in a cage. It throbs through my veins, making my body scream. It needs to move, to break the shackles and run, push, fight.

It hurts sometimes, its a shame they don't mix it with orange.

I need to get OUT.

My muscles twitch, my whole body throbs. I hate this.

Why. WHY? I can't move whats the goddamn POINT? If I were testing this stuff it wouldn't be on a bed. God I just feel so angry.

I let out a growl, internally scolding myself, I'd been trying so hard not to react.

"You really don't like this one do you?" He chuckled. "Maybe we'll let you specialise, this one can be yours and yours only." He said with a sickening grin.

It wasn't true, they rotated each chemicals, and then afterwards they'd reverse the process. Each of the chemicals had a neutraliser, after each "session" I'd be injected with a green neutraliser, cooling... calming. A release of the side effects. Normality ensued - well at the time it was normality. Now I know that wasn't true.

They opened the door and threw me in, Jessa looked at me, eyes wide. I stumbled through, still coming down with the neutraliser. I laid on my bottom bunk, I chose the bottom so they could get to me first. She was safer up there, I hoped.

Staring at the wire frame of the bed on top of me.

"Are you-"

"Jess they're making us into weapons." She looked at me, her glassy blue eyes, confused, scared.

"Like guns?" She whispered.

"No. Like us, they're making us into human weapons." I sat up. "'There's three chemicals they use right?"

"I think so?" She said quietly, chewing a fingernail.

"Pink, orange and purple. How does purple make you feel JJ?" She crossed her legs on the floor and bit her lip, thinking.

"Angry and I just want to roar like a big lion." I got up and sat on the floor opposite her.

"What about orange?"

"Not really anything, but they always try and hurt me and I don't like that."

"Pink?" She goes silent for a bit.

"Like there's a thousand people in my head trying to speak and I can't pick one out." I exhaled, picking up three bits of broken tile, I put one in the middle of the floor between us.

"Purple." I said as I placed it down. "I think purple is to make us feel angry, like we are ready to fight, like a lion, you were right." I took the second piece and put it next to the other. "Orange means we can't feel pain, so we can't get hurt like normal people and we can fight for longer."

"That's cool." She said. I shook my head quickly. She had no idea.

"Pink is where things go wrong JJ, there's something wrong with it. I think its supposed to make you smarter, make you know things you wouldn't normally know. But it doesn't work." I put the last piece down, all three pieces were touching.

"If I put them together what do we have?"

"An angry lion, that can't feel anything, and is really confused?" She said, furrowing her thin eyebrows, wanting desperately to make her sister proud.

"Almost sis, they wanna make a fighter, full of anger and energy, whos super intelligent and can't get hurt. I think they want an army, of people like us."

She didn't say anything, she pulled her arms up to her chest and hugged them close.

"They aren't ready yet okay, we still have time, they need to find a way to put all the chemicals together. Jessa look at me." I said sternly.

She lifted her head gently her eyes full of fear and determination. "We won't be around when they finish. We are going to escape."

She got up and sat down in the gap between my legs, her arms wrapping around my shoulders. I held her, tight.

...................

Caitlyn signed me up to a surgery "You're on the force now, what did you think would happen if you got hurt?" She said.

I skipped the appointments, it was confidential, they couldn't tell her. She knew anyway of course. But there was no chance I'd be letting anyone put anything into my body. That was until my third day on the force, where I didn't have a choice.

Caitlyn looked at the time and rolled her eyes, of course she's late, two days and she's already too comfortable. Vi strolled in at 7:04, her hair messy and askew from her pillow. She threw her coat on the back of the chair opposite Caitlyn's desk.

"I don't appreciate you drinking the night before an early shift Vi. It puts us both at risk if you're over-tired." Caitlyn said, filling out a jury form.

"I wasn-"

"Vi don't try and lie to me. The ink from the beer mat is imprinted on your elbow." Vi glared trying to get a glimpse of what the sheriff meant, contorting her arm into a manner of shapes in the process. She gave up trying to see the marks and huffed, crossing her arms.

"Not to mention the marks, on your neck." She said finishing of the form with a flourish of her signature. "It's all well and good using your badge to bed the ladies Vi, but you won't have it for much longer if you keep up the bad reputation." She scalded. Vi's mouth parted slightly in a silent shock, the blood rushed to her face.

"Get your gauntlets, we're going on patrol." Caitlyn got up, got her rifle from the locker and smoothed down her skirt.

She looked at Vi who was deep in thought, and gestured with her hand, encouraging her to lead the way. Vi opened the door and turned to look at Caitlyn with a puzzled look on her face.

"How did you know it was a woman?" She asked with a drop of suspicion in her voice.

"I'm a detective." She said. "Besides, you're not exactly subtle."

Vi shrugged and continued through the hallway and out towards the backdoor, where the parking spaces were.

"Want me to take the wheel?" Vi said grinning.

"Not a chance in hell." Caitlyn said, closing their weapons into the boot of the car.

"You're out to get me this mornin huh?" She said opening the drivers seat door.

"What did I just say?" Caitlyn said glaring.

"I was getting the door for you."

"I'm perfectly capable of opening a door Vi." She said and getting in the drivers seat pulling the door shut behind her.

Once Vi had gotten in the car and clipped the seatbelt in, Caitlyn started the engine and pulled out of the parking space.

"You'll be able to drive once you've got a licence. We'll get that sorted soon don't worry." Vi looked out of the tinted window, her hand placed on the leather upholstery. She thought for a second about how much had over the course of a week, the department were giving her everything she needed and more: a month advance on wages to get started, she was trusted, had responsibilities. Respected even. By Caitlyn at least.

She wondered how much Caitlyn knew of her past, she couldn't know much of her childhood that's certain.

"Right." Caitlyn said, slowing to a stop and parking up. Vi looked outside, she recognised where they were immediately, Gunnera Market. With a quick jingle of the keys Caitlyn had already gotten out of the car and was flinging the strap of her rifle over her shoulder.

"You know where we are?" Caitlyn said, her heels clicking against the cobblestones.

"Yeah course, I stole tonnes from here when I was a kid." Vi said laughing.

"Great. I trust you'll know what to look out for then." Vi couldn't tell if she was being sarcastic but shrugged it off anyway.

They strolled alongside the market, each stall was rife with antiquities, artisanal baked goods and paintings. Vi admired the decorative pieces of the antiques, the money thing in Piltover pissed her off to no end, but antiques she understood, they were made well, and that's something she could appreciate. She looked around, this wasn't exactly a hotspot for crime, a bit of a rich area really, most people had enough money here. That's why she used to come here, it was easier to steal if people didn't suspect you. She smiled as she realised the irony of her thoughts.

"Thoughts?" Caitlyn said. She was testing her, Vi knew that.

"Quiet area." Vi said.

"Yes bu-"

"That's why we're here. That's why I used to come here."

"Mhm." Caitlyn said, her eyes still looking ahead, for anything out of touch with the norms. They walked a little further, an old woman past them, she smiled at the sheriff.

"Thank you sheriff, you keep us safe." The old woman said, taking one of Caitlyn's hands into her own and squeezing it. "Your grandmother would be so proud of you."

Caitlyn smiled, thanked her and wished her a good day.

"Did she rob you?" Vi asked when the lady was out of earshot.

"What? No, she just knew my grandmother. You'll learn that people do appreciate us Vi, we protect them." Caitlyn whispered gracefully.

"I feel like its kinda different for you n' me. I mean I scare people, and you look nice- I mean you are nice." She sighed. "Look, you're just more approachable."

Caitlyn raised her eyebrows in reaction to Vi's stumble of a sentence.

"Once they're used to the idea of an ex-zaunite criminal enforcer they'll love you too." Caitlyn said, trying not to laugh.

"No they won't."

"No they probably won't." Caitlyn admitted with a small chuckle.

They continued their stroll across the promenade, when a movement amongst a small crowd behind them turned their head.

"GET BACK HERE!" A man shouted from behind the stall. Before Vi could even react the child thief had run into her legs, dropping the sweetcake he'd tried to take.

"Whoah kid, if you're gonna take stuff at least watch where you're runnin!" Vi said, one hand on his shoulders to keep him still. His eyes were wide focusing on the shining metal of her huge fists. "S'alright they don't hurt unless I want them too. What's ya name kid?" He stood frozen with fear, looking up at the girls bright hair.

"Nova.." He said quietly.

"Nice to meet ya, I'm Vi. This is Caitlyn." Vi said nodding her head to the sheriff. "You hungry?" He nodded quickly. Vi nodded in response and told the boy to wait there, she turned to the market stall and asked to buy 3 sweetcakes.

"I aint selling to no thief." He said angrily.

"Nothing was stolen. I'm paying you for all four." She handed the disgruntled vendor the coins and turned away with three paper bags. She offered one to Caitlyn who politely declined. Vi rolled her eyes and handed two of them to the boy. She opened one of them herself and took a bite.

"Good choice Nova." He stood still, still bewildered by the girl with giant hands. "Lets chat kiddo." She beckoned him over to the wall and sat on the floor with him. Caitlyn leant against the wall next to her, not ready to perch on the bare ground herself. Nova had started eating his first sweetcake, like there was no tomorrow.

"Okay, I'm not saying its okay to steal, but I know you didn't have much choice. Just be careful okay, you're gonna get yourself hurt. " He nodded slowly.

"How old are you?" He looked up at her with bright green eyes.

"Eight 'nd a half" Vi smiled, he reminded her of herself when she was that age.

"If you get hungry again, and you need somewhere safe to be, I want you to ask a woman who looks friendly 'How do I get to Hope House please?'. Can you remember that?" He nodded, whilst chewing. "Awesome."

Caitlyn watched the two of them, Vi sitting cross-legged on the floor, like a child herself, her gauntlets placed next to her on the floor. The boy was small, unusually so for his age. This happened too often, Caitlyn knew that, crimes are often linked with wealth. Sometimes it was hard to enforce the rules, but maybe that was why she wanted Vi to join her. Vi had already proved, that she knew how to fight crime, by solving the problem that caused it in the first place. Neither of them could fix the poverty in Zaun, but Vi had the empathy to understand why. She'd been in their shoes, and not that long ago either.

"Well kid, it was lovely to meet ya but me and Cait need to go and fight more crime, okay? Be careful yeah?" He nodded. "Hope House remember."

As gently as she could, she offered out a gauntlet for him to shake. He tentatively held out his hand for him to take. When they released their handshake he paused for a second, then quickly he threw his arms around her thighs and hugged her.

Vi watched as he quickly turned and ran back down the road, she bit her lip in thought as he vanished. Caitlyn placed a hand on her shoulder and squeezed.

"It doesn't get any easier." Caitlyn said softly.

Vi's focus changed, her eyebrows furrowed slightly.

"Vi? Is everything okay?"

"That guy, with the half cloak. He's a shimmer dealer." She said.

"Up here? How do you know?" Caitlyn asked.

Vi grinned at the sheriff. "Because I used to buy from him."

Caitlyn pressed her lips together firmly into a line. "We'll talk about that later. Lets follow."

They followed him down the next road off of Purley Street, he entered an alleyway. They were close behind him as he entered an old building. Another man entered the same doorway from the other side of the road. Once they were inside the building, Vi started edging closer to the door.

"Vi we can't just go in there. We don't know what to expect."

"You might not but I do." She slipped in the doorway.

"Vi!" Caitlyn said in a loud whisper. "Shit." She cursed as she held herself against the wall of the building. She'd have to follow.

Inside Vi had followed them, the building was empty, looked like it used to be a hospital. There was light coming through one of the doors, so that's where she headed.

"Vi." Caitlyn whispered again. To no avail, she followed Vi further, trying to calculate a plan as she went.

Vi reached the door of what was unmistakably a shimmer lab. Tonnes of lab equipment was laid out, everything was clean and white under the fluorescent lighting above them. She had just blocked their entrance, ready to announce herself, when she realised only one of them was in the room. Before she could even think about what was happening the other guy had grabbed her and pressed a hard cold knife to her throat.

"Oh hey." She croaked.

"Hey Vi." This was the guy she knew of. Radhurst he was from a rich family but they discarded of him when he got caught.

"So tell me." Radhurst said, a hint of entertainment in his voice. "Is it true? You joined the Piltover pigs?"

Vi scoffed loudly. "Like HELL."

"Liar." He said coldly.

Caitlyn, who had been stood listening, approached the doorway, gun first. If she waited she knew she couldn't control the situation.

"Release her." She said from behind the sights.

"Speak of the pigs and they arrive." Radhurst said sounding impatient.

"If you shoot you're just gonna get your little pet Zaunite instead." He said gesturing to Vi with a wry smile.

Its a solid building, if I shoot the ceiling it won't collapse. If I shoot him, he could move and I could get Vi. Calmly but quickly Caitlyn inhaled and took her aim. Two shots. The first at Radhurst, his left shoulder, he'd assume it was worse than it was and stay there crumpled on the floor. The second shot, to floor just in front of Vi's feet. The floor took its hit, sending dust and broken tile flying.

The distraction gave Vi the leverage to burst out of the other mans hold, but as she did she felt the cold of the blade slip into her thigh . She growled and turned pinning him a few feet above the floor with her fists, he let out a scream as she pushed against his fragile bones, cracking them beneath the metal digits.

"VI STOP." She thought about it for a second and then let go, letting him crash to the ground in a heap. She looked at her thigh, the blood was seeping into her clothes, spreading.

"I need medics to Peldon Alley Hospital NOW." Caitlyn said urgently into the hextech communicator. She grabbed Vi by the shoulders and shoved her down to the floor.

"Do I need to tell you how stupid a move that was?" Caitlyn said, pulling the belt from her waist.

"What were you gonna do? Wait until they're so bored of waiting that they actually SURRENDER themselves?" Caitlyn shook her head with irritation.

She pulled Vi's thigh upwards, and slid the belt underneath it. The two ends of the belt were tied together. Vi grunted as Caitlyn tightened the tourniquet above her thigh.

"You deserve it." The sheriff said, as she tucked the loose ends out of the way. "And you're going to see your doctor."

Vi didn't say anything, she just glared onwards stubbornly and held her middle finger up to her partner.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well that was longer than I expected! Having so much fun thinking about Vi's past, kinda nervous to see what they come u with for Arcane though T_T
> 
> Please fuel my lesbian heart by reviewing 3


	5. V

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay i've finished uni so I know have way too much free time to write, lmk if you have any feedback!
> 
> OH also, I had a go at some slightly nsfw cait x vi fanart, I've made it my cover but if you wanna check out my tumblr or twitter its ameliajocash :D

Vi refused the assistance of any of the medics, she even pushed herself to walk to their car. Caitlyn expected stubbornness but this was something else.

"Vi you need to go to the hospital." Caitlyn said as she put her arm around her partner, supporting her weight as she limped towards the car.

"I'm fine." Vi said through gritted teeth.

"You're going. Even if I have to drive you." She said firmly. Mouthing a silent apology to the puzzled medics.

After a long journey of uncomfortably palpable tension they arrived at the Piltover Infirmary. Caitlyn got out of the car, and knowing Vi wasn't going to voluntarily get out, headed to her side to get the door.

"Out." Caitlyn said.

"You're just wasting their time, I'm fine." Vi said glaring at her superior.

"Vi if I remove that belt from your thigh your femural artery is going to destroy my upholstery and that's the least of our problems." Vi rolled her eyes.

"Just leave me to die on the pavement then."

"Oh Vi my heart bleeds." She said sarcastically. "Look Vi, if you die, you can bet your arse I'm going to make you fill out all of the paperwork for it."

"Ugh. Fine." Vi said using the car interior to push herself out of the seat. "Hey wait-"

Caitlyn slid her arm around Vi before she changed her mind.

"Jeez ask me out first." Vi said through a pained grin as she limped with Caitlyn's support.

"If you want, you can crawl." Caitlyn replied coldly.

Vi's behavior didn't get any better as they made their way to hospital bed, refusing the help of everyone and anyone else. Caitlyn was surprised she trusted her enough to even be there.

She sat up on the side of the bed, as if laying down and relaxing was her accepting her fate. Caitlyn had no idea what was going through her head as she sat there gripping the sheets with force as her thigh throbbed through the pain.

When the doctor opened the door Vi jumped, Caitlyn watched her, her eyes were still, but full of something dark.

"Alrighty then, how are we doing over here." Vi was frozen.

"Femural laceration, 4 inch blade." Caitlyn said calmly. The doctor nodded.

"Vi is it?" Vi nodded, not taking her eyes off of him for a second.

"Okay." He said, turning to the counter behind him, there were a few clicks and he turned with a small needle. "So we're just going to -"

"No." Vi said instincts kicking in, she stood up and backed against the wall knocking the side table flying, there wasn't anywhere to hide this time. Caitlyn watched her, her whole body was tense, her breathing heavy, too heavy. The enforcer's eyes flickered to Caitlyn's, a flash of fear in her eyes, pleading her.

"Could we have a minute?" Caitlyn asked politely.

"Ma'am she's in-" he stopped his response when he saw the look on the sheriffs face, it wasn't a question. She knew that.

Vi exhaled and let herself slide down the wall, sitting in a heap at the floor, she was numb to the pain now. Caitlyn moved the side table out of the way and knelt down next to her partner, who's face was covered up by her hands, entwined into her mess of pink hair.

"Talk to me Vi." Caitlyn said, her voice soft, calming.

Silence, all that was to be heard was a faint beeping from outside, and Vi's quick erratic breaths.

"Look at me." She said. "What do you need?" Vi looked up, her eyes were wet and her eyebrows were furious, but not at Caitlyn or the Doctor, at herself.

"I don't trust them, I don't want them putting chemicals in me, it's not natural." She said.

"It was just local anaesthetic, you need stitches Vi."

"Then give me stitches."

"Vi." Caitlyn argued, but she knew the stubborn look plastered across Vi's face, and she knew she wasn't going to give in.

Caitlyn got up and slid the side table in front of the door. Vi looked up at her, trying to understand what was going on. She turned to the plates that the doctor had laid out, she knew what to do, it wasn't the first time. Sure she was likely to get in trouble for this, but it was more straightforward than watching Vi single handedly beat down an innocent doctor.

"On the bed." Caitlyn said as she placed the tray on end of the bed.

Vi slowly sat down, careful not to knock the tray of equipment.

Caitlyn made sure the fabric of Vi's trousers was completely out of the way, before picking up a little bottle. She showed Vi the label that said 100% alcohol and Vi nodded and prepared herself as her partner poured the thin liquid across the wound, cleansing it. Caitlyn looked puzzled as the alcohol cleared the dried blood out of sight, she examined the now clear wound, it a 4 inch blade, but this wound was barely 3 inches now.

"What's wrong?" Vi said, registering the look of confusion on Caitlyn's face as she thread the first stitch.

"It's almost like the wound got smaller?" Vi shrugged, details weren't her forte. The sheriff ended up just putting it down to her own error of judgement and carrying on with her swift needlework.

Vi didn't make a sound throughout the entire procedure, even watching her superior thread the needle through her own wound, she just clenched her jaw and got on with it.

When Caitlyn finished she removed the tourniquet and sat beside Vi on the bed.

"Everyone's got their fears you know." Caitlyn said.

"Yeah? What's yours then? Snakes, spiders?" Vi said humouring her.

"I wish." She said with a gentle smile, leaving Vi to wonder what the sheriff was truly scared of.

Caitlyn dressed Vi's stitches and quickly put back everything she'd used.

"Won't you get in trouble for this Cait?" Vi asked.

"Maybe." She said with a smile, she used to care about playing by the rules but it seemed to be changing now, especially around Vi.

Vi bit her lip, feeling the guilt arise in her stomach.

"I'm sorry." She said, her voice thick with annoyance for herself.

Caitlyn stopped what she was doing and knelt in front of her seated partner. "Vi, you trust me don't you?" She asked.

"Yeah" Vi said, stretching her spine as she stood up stiffly.

"Then it's worth it, we're partners and that means making sacrifices for eachother. If you trust me then that's all I need." Vi smiled, realising she hadn't really trusted anyone in her life. It was refreshing to her, so much was changing in her life. For the good. "We should probably get outta here huh?" She said chuckling.

"Mhm." Caitlyn mumbled, she put her ear to the door, and slowly opened it so she could peak through. "It appears we're all clear. Let's go."

Caitlyn had given Vi the time off to recover, given Vi let her check her over once a week to see the healing process. Vi protested of course, she was adamant that she didn't need time off, and tried her best to avoid Caitlyn checking her over, unsucessfully of course. Vi was awful at being at home, home was never a place of safety to Vi, she didn't know how to be bored. Before, if she got comfortable, she was at risk, so she simply didn't. The evenings were the worst, trying to sleep, the silence made her darkest thoughts louder, plus finally getting decent amounts of undisturbed sleep meant her dreams were all the more real. She almost always woke up in a cold sweat, panting trying to find the light switch. So when Caitlyn came on the 6th day of her hideously boring time off, Vi was thankful, relieved.

She was knelt on the floor in front of Vi, who aptly put on a pair of shorts as to not cover up her dressing. The soft touch of Caitlyn's warm deft fingers made her shiver slightly, she found herself watching her, not her hands though, her face. she found herself studying Caitlyn's eyelashes, her hair as it delicately fell across her cheek, brushing her knee as she delicately pulled back the dressing. Vi wasn't paying any attention to her thigh, she was counting all of the different shades of violet in her hair when she realised that her face twisting into a look of pure confusion.

"What's wrong?" Vi said leaning to try to see.

"It's just a scar.. Vi its completely healed. This is.. utterly impossible." Caitlyn leant back on her calves, just staring at the silver thin scar she'd just revealed.

"I told you I wouldn't need that much time." Vi said shrugging it off. Caitlyn was speechless and sat with her lips parted, there was no explanation, something like that would take three times as long for anyone else. It was impossible, and yet, she made it happen.

"Have you always been, this quick to heal?" She asked.

"I dunno? Nothings changed - I guess?" Caitlyn nodded, she was deep in thought, her eyes glassy and confused.

"Okay." She whispered.

"Sooo can I come back to work?" Vi said cautiously.

"I- I guess so. Yes." Caitlyn said. Vi didn't know what to do, she sat up properly and cleared her throat.

"Sorry I should have asked, do you need a drink or anything? I haven't really mastered tea yet but..." Vi said trailing off.

Caitlyn stood up and shook her head, smoothing her skirt down against her thighs. "No, thank you, I have to - to do something." She said, looking preoccupied in her head, Vi was used to this, Caitlyn had a look about her, when she was thinking about something, usually a case. Except this time, this time she was thinking about Vi.

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Pls review thankies xoxo


	6. VI

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chapter VI - Its her number, something gay had to happen :P

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, Ive had an awful week but I've been writing on the buses to work and it srsly helped T_T I feel like I rushed the last chapter so i've tried to take a bit more time on this one. Hope yall like it.

Vi had a few days back to work, enough to get her footing again and then one rainy thursday, halfway through her shift Caitlyn left. She said she had a personal errand to run, Vi didn't question that, personal life was seperate, so that's how they left it.

She gathered her things and left to patrol on Main Street. It was a relatively relaxed day, it was pouring and as you can imagine, there wasn't much to police in the wet empty streets. When she returned, a little fed up from being soaked though, she noticed a scrap piece of parchment. She bent down and picked it up from the floor, a few drips from her wet hair fell onto it, slightly smudging the cursive handwriting.

The note was an address, one Vi had avoided for a long time: Hope House Orphanage. Seeing the words again released floods of memories. Her chest felt hollow as she took a deep breath, fighting the images of Jessa that flashed across her mind. _Stop._ She said to herself, trying to take her mind off it, she suceeded in that at least. She focused on the cursive flourish of each letter, this was Caitlyn's writing, there was no mistake about that. _So I'm your personal errand._ She thought.

Vi screwed up the note and flicked it into Caitlyn's teacup, it clinked against the saucer and splashed as it hit the forgotten tea. "Trust you my _ass_." She said as she grabbed her jacket and gauntlets and left, scowling as she stomped her way home.

Caitlyn found herself in the lowest part of Zaun, the sump, in front of the haggard building of Hope House. She knocked heavily on the front door. It was painted red, but the paint was peeling terribly, revealing hundreds of different layers underneath. Nothing nice ever lasted in Zaun.

She looked around as she waited for a response, it was an awful location, broken pipes spewing hot steam, small pools of chemicals, glowing in the gutters. It wasn't a place for children to be, and yet, this is where they were.

The door opened, a tall slender woman stood behind it, her head peeking round the door suspiciously, her glasses delicately balancing on the end of her nose. She was blonde, seemed around 30, and not in a great mood. Caitlyn smiled politely and handed the woman her badge.

"What do you want?" She said, accusingly, looking the sheriff up and down with judging eyes. Caitlyn wasn't surprised by the unwarm welcome, she received it a lot, the further down into Zaun, the less respect she'd get.

"I just have some questions ma'am. May I come in?" She said. The woman didn't say anything, just glared and pulled the door towards herself. She waited for Caitlyn to enter before closing the door behind her. As she encouraged the tall sheriff to follow her to the office a small child ran into her from the opposite corridor.

"Be CAREFUL Nett! What did I tell you!?" She scalded. The small girl looked past her, her eyes fell on the sheriff, she was tall, her hair long and dark, pretty but definitely intimidating.

"Did you call the police?" Nett asked, her eyes big and full of worry. Caitlyn stepped towards the girl and crouched down with her hand outstretched.

"I'm Caitlyn, the Sheriff of Piltover." She smiled at the girl. Her eyes widened and she froze. "Darling you're not in trouble." She added. The girls posture melted with relief, she took Caitlyn's hand and shook it.

"I'm Nett, I get in trouble a lot..." She trailed off.

Caitlyn grinned and stood up. "I know someone just like you. The wardens aren't just here to tell people off sweetheart, we're here to keep you safe too. If you ever need help or you're lost you can come and find one of us okay?" She said gently. She felt the matron's eyes burning into her, she had a short fuse. Some might wonder how she'd gotten the job here.

"Sorry Miss Maddle..." Nett said, seeing her irritation. She waved Caitlyn goodbye and skipped back the way she came.

"Shall we?" The woman said, walking towards the orphanage store room-come-office. Caitlyn followed her, the wallpaper caught her eye as she walked, countless crayon scribbles and wonky letters scribbled over years of aged floral paper. She wondered if Vi had drawn anything on these walls, _probably_. She smiled at the thought.

"What do you want, Sheriff?" She said standing against the doorframe, she checked her watch impatiently.

"A past resident, I need to know details, when she arrived here, when she left, where she was sent."

"Who?"

"Vi... Last name unknown." She said plainly. Miss maddle rolled her eyes.

"We don't have that information. Got lost somewhere." She said casually, she'd lied, they didn't keep the details for a reason, but Caitlyn knew that, she had planned this, of course.

"Look Ma'am, I'll pretend I don't know what goes on behind closed doors in places like this, but we all know you pocket half of the funds given to this place, to those children. I might not have proof, but if you are _so_ reluctant to give me _any_ information then _gods_ help your soul." Caitlyn wasn't religious in the slightest, but she wasn't blind to the necklace Miss Maddle had hanging from her neck, the grey lady. She smiled as she watched the woman instantly take hold of it in her hands, for forgiveness.. or to hide the guilt. She turned with a huff and tore a piece of paper from a book, she scribbled the name and address of someone and handed it to Caitlyn. Caitlyn skimmed over it, she nodded with satisfaction.

"Thank you, for your time Miss Maddle." She said, trying not to feel smug as she left the building with exactly what she needed.

The sheriff made her way back up the hex-conveyer, studying the piece of paper. By the time she got back to the office it was dark and wet, she retrieved her things and left, beginning her journey home.

* * *

Violet was sat in their room, they'd just taken Jessa, her chest was pulsing with heavy breathes. On her forearm there was a bloody bruise, the same shape as the metal rod that was used to make it. She didn't know why she kept trying to stop them taking her, they wouldn't listen to her, and she always got hurt. Not that she cared anymore, it hurt more hearing her sister calling her name. It was as if she felt like if she didn't try, then she was giving up, and that wasn't going to happen.

She turned to the door and stared at the tiny rectangle window, you couldn't see out of it, but that was the closest she felt to her when she was out there. She pictured herself busting through it and beating down the guys out there, rescuing Jessa and running.

_Focus_. _Carry on with the plan._ She thought turning back to the wall she was facing.

There were 6 grooves in the wall, vertically aligned, they were her version of bullet points, carved with a piece of metal she'd ripped off of their bed. She ran her finger along them, thinking of the steps they represented.

1: Drink the soap

2:Let them take you outside

3:Let orange do the work

3: Throw up and let them cleanup

4: Undo the buckles whilst they're distracted

5:Fuck them up and get Jessa

6: Get the neautraliser and GO

It wasn't perfect, but it was all they had. She just needed to hold the soap down until they'd tested her. Would drinking the soap actually make her sick? What if they just killed her.. what would happen to-

There was a scream, not a scared one, an angry one. Was that?

She immediately got up and stared at the door, there was a dull orange light behind the frosted window, she looked down and saw the billows of smoke seeping under the door towards her.

"JESSA?!" She shouted, her hands and body pressed against the door trying to get to her. She hit it, hard, nothing happened.

"JESS" She screamed again, hitting the door as hard as she could to get her attention. The door was warming behind her. She heard crashing and glass shattering.

She heard a man's voice scream "Get out!"

"Can you hear me?" She said her voice hoarse and her lips brushing the door as she desperately tried to get someone's attention, even if it was _them_. She would die in here, if no one heard her. Just as she started to give up, there was a clunk, and the door opened, heat rushed in and made her gasp. There was Jessa, standing at the door, 7 years old, flames behind her, framing her tiny form. She was smiling a big toothy grin, her eyes a sickly fuchsia pink. She did this.

"What are you waiting for sis lets go!" Violet stood there, her lips parted, they hadn't spoken about this, she hadn't told Jessa about the plan. This was all Jessa.

"But you're still - we need the neutraliser!" Violet said desperately.

"Too late!" Jessa said, grabbing her sisters hand. She pulled her along a pathway through the burning lab, through a mess of different rooms towards an opening. Violet looked back as she reached the doorway, the bed was burning impeccably, a myriad of red and orange embers danced across the leather. She always thought that was kinda beautiful. Maybe it was the irony.

When they reached the outside they kept running, out of the way of the now roaring building, when they got to the end of the alley they both fell against the wall in exhaustion, both gasping for air like fish out of water. There was an enormous crash, the building had collapsed, a heap of embers and smoke billowed into to the air. The two girls looked at eachother, Jessa still had a slight grin to her lips. It scared Violet, her mind was burning with questions, but there wasn't time for that right now.

Two kids appeared at the same corner, a girl and a boy. The boy seemed younger, he had olive-toned skin and a lions mane of blonde curls, he grinned. The girl behind him had a plait across her forehead, brown hair and was completely missing an arm. She spoke first "I'm Vera, this is Feri" She pointed towards the two of them. "That fire is gonna hit the chemical run off _very_ soon, If you guys don't hurry up you're gonna get caught up in a whole lotta shit." The girls stood staring at them, frozen. "Come ON." She said grabbing Jessa's hand who pulled her sister in tow.

* * *

As she approached her house she shuffled through her pockets, retrieving her key.

"SEE the funny thing about trust is, it usually involves some truth."

Caitlyn, jumped at the voice, dropping her keys out of surprise. She looked up, there was the silhouette of her enforcer, sitting on the second step to her front door, calmly smoking a cigarette. She stood up, and took a drag.

"If you've got questions, _Sheriff,_ then ask me them. Don't lie to my face and go asking shit about me behind my back, I'm not _your_ criminal." She spat the words towards her partner.

"No you're not. I was - look, come in Vi, lets talk." She said, retrieving her now wet keys. She opened the door and looked back to Vi.

"Nah, I'm good." She flicked the cigarette to the floor and stubbed it out, starting to walk away.

"Please? It's raining.." Caitlyn pleaded, she tilted her head as she bit her lip, assuming Vi would still say no. Vi blew her damp hair out of her face as she sighed, giving in and heading towards the door.

As Caitlyn turned on the lights in her sizeable home Vi realised that Caitlyn wasn't as she expected her to be when it came home decor. The rooms were clean and minimalist, Vi had half expected her home to be huge and lavish, full of old antiquities and delicate ornaments, but Caitlyn had grown up in a stately home in Southern Piltover, full of all that stuff, and she was sick of it.

"Shoes off please." She said looking at Vi's boots.

"Seriously?" Vi said raising an eyebrow. She was met with a cold look from her superior, and bent down to remove her boots. Caitlyn had left her to it, so Vi went to what looked like a sitting room and sat down cross-legged on the sofa. Caitlyn returned with two half-filled whiskey glasses in hand, ice clinking delicately as she walked. She handed one of the glasses to Vi and sat next to her.

"I have a habit of letting my work bleed into my personal life." Caitlyn said quietly. "I'm sorry."

"No shit." Vi replied, taking a sip of the dark liquid. Caitlyn laughed as Vi's eyes widened following her short gulp. "What in Valor-" She said, holding the glass up to the light.

"I used to steal my fathers whiskey as a teen, I've got a taste for the stronger stuff.." She said, still smirking after Vi's reaction.

"Wow, didn't put the Sheriff of Piltover down as one of the bad girls."

Caitlyn chuckled "I wasn't best keen on my father."

"Wasn't? How do you feel about him now?" Vi said, an eyebrow raised.

Caitlyn sent a look to her partner. "No comment." She said with a grin. Vi rolled her eyes, credible a tactic as any, she didn't expect to hear it from Caitlyn though. "We're supposed to be here, to talk about you anyway."

"No, we're supposed to be talking about trust." Vi said, gritting her teeth as she took another sip.

"True. I know I betrayed your trust by going behind your back, but how can I trust you if you're hiding your roots from me? Vi, you told me you didn't know." Vi nodded slowly.

"I'll tell you." She said, sounding nervous. Caitlyn adjusted her position, so she was now sideways on the sofa, facing Vi, listening. Vi told her everything, every detail in her memory. There were points, where she paused, Caitlyn didn't rush her, she smiled encouragingly and waited for the words to come. Vi told her about Hope House, the lab, their escape, and afterwards when: "I lost her Cait, it was my fault." She said squeezing her eyes shut. She did that when she didn't want to face the tears. Caitlyn moved along, closer to her, she took Vi's clenched fist delicately stroking along her curled knuckles, her hands relaxed and unfurled, taking hold of Caitlyn's. They stayed like that for a moment, in the present. "None of it was your fault Vi, you and Jessa were just innocent victims of Zaun, it was out of your control." Vi bit her lip, thinking about what Caitlyn had said, she was right, but she'd never thought about it that way.

"Oh." Caitlyn said, reaching into her pocket. She pulled out another piece of paper, this time a different writing style took residency on it. She placed it delicately on the worn fabric of Vi's knee, so she could read it.

_Cherie Rowe_

_29 Palasidia Terrace_

_"_ Palasidia Terrace _"_ Vi whispered.

_"_ Entresol." They both in unison. The entresol was the second tier of Zaun, above the sump.

"How did go from looking after a tonne of dirty sump kids in Hope House to living in Palasidia?" Vi said, still staring at the paper as if it had the answers.

"Go and ask her."

Vi nodded, she looked at Caitlyn with thankfulness in her eyes, but there was something else, a need, desire? Caitlyn felt the heat of her partners body as she leant over her, pressing her lips against the sheriffs. Caitlyn didn't have time to think about what was happening, before she realised she'd kissed back. Her heart jumped as she felt Vi's breathe against her own, her tongue brushing Caitlyn's bottom lip. She gasped gently, it took every fibre of her will to pull away from that kiss, but she knew she had to.

"Vi - we can't. I can't." Vi sat back down on the opposite side of the sofa.

"But you just _did."_ She said, she was frustrated.

"I know - I'm sorry. I shouldn't have, it was a mistake, not a mistake I-"

"Save it." She said as she got up, she headed for the door, where her boots were and started putting them on.

"Vi you don't understand, if something were to happen and someone found out -"

"You'd be ashamed, yeah I got you." She said as she finished putting on her boots and reached into her pocket for a cigarette.

"I have the highest authority of the wardens and if something "happened" with an employee, I'd be accused of...a lot." She said, desperately trying not to finish the sentence properly, in efforts not to irritate her partner further.

Vi lit her cigarette, opened the door and left, theatrically saluting Caitlyn as she turned away. She closed the door and leant her forehead against it as it shut. "Fuck." she whispered. _One step forward, two steps back._ She thought as she turned back into the house and threw herself back on the sofa. She let her head drop back and shut her eyes, her forefinger and thumb came up to pinch the bridge of her nose. _This_ was going to take some patching up. She thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 000oooh my god you have no idea how long I've wanted to write that kiss. Come on Cait dont be boring!
> 
> Also pls let me know if Im doing okay because I'm not a writer at allll xD


	7. VII

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Why is vi like this

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning, this chapter gets a lil NSFW. It wasn't planned but it happened im sorry lool.

Vi left Caitlyn's house with a hardened look plastered across her face, she took a long drag on the cigarette and paused for a second, deciding whether to just go home and get some rest, or to go and get a drink somewhere. She thought about the kiss, there was no doubt that Caitlyn kissed her back, it surprised Vi that she herself even went for it, she hadn't quite realised how she felt about Caitlyn. She did find herself studying her partner a lot during their time together, she had a lot of subtle quirks. She'd bite her lip when she was concentrating and a little crease appeared inbetween her eyebrows if she was stressed. Caitlyn did have her guard up most of the time, she didn't let her emotions or personal life come into her work, so those small but familiar details to Vi, were what defined her, the parts of Caitlyn that she couldn't hide - and only Vi got to see them, those small but beautiful characteristics, she felt special for that. She cursed herself for thinking about it.

"Ugh." Vi said taking another drag, as she turned down an alley, she definitely needed a drink tonight, a distraction. She headed further down to the hexconveyer and back to Zaun, home, she thought as she took her first inhalation of god knows what. She swung through the door as usual, grimacing slightly as the door bounced off the wall and cracked the plaster behind it. Laszlo was serving someone, he looked at Vi with a side-eye and shot her a warning look.

She told herself she'd come here to see Laz, but she knew why she really came. It wasn't the first time she'd come down to a bar to find a 'distraction' Lazslo had scolded her for it, "You're never gonna find someone to love if you go around breaking hearts!" He would say. She always laughed in response, she didn't want love, she just wanted a quick fix. There was a girl at the bar, she had red hair, pulled into a ponytail on the top of her head. Vi could only see the back of her, but that was enough, she let her eyes follow the curve of her body as the girl leant confidently over the bar waiting to be served.

"What dya want beautiful?" Vi said from behind her. The girl turned with one eyebrow raised in humoured disbelief, her hand rested on her hip and her head tilted slightly.

"Really?" She said, her voice sounded dissapointed in Vi's attempt at wooing her.

"What?" Vi said pretending to be offended.

"Couldn't you have come up with something a little bit more imaginative." She said.

"You have an amazing ass." Vi said, slipping underneath the counter to let herself into the other side of the bar. The girl chuckled and put her hand to her forehead, she was pretty, blue eyes, not quite as bright as Caitlyn's. "Not good?"

Vi reached for the liquor from the top shelf. Bilgewater single malt. She poured it into a whiskey glass over ice and offered it to the girl.  
What's this?" She asked.

"Smooth, elegant and sultry, bit of a bite to it." She winked. "It seemed like the perfect fit to me.. Why don't you taste it and tell me if I'm right?" The girl looked at her, a playful smile on her lips as she reluctantly obliged. She lifted the drink to her mouth and took a sip, it was a dark taste, but smooth and rich with caramel tones. It was perfect.

"I hate to say it but you're right, its pretty good." Vi grinned in response as she poured herself a pint, slightly surprised she hadn't been caught by Lazslo yet. She slid back to the punters side of the bar and leant with her back against it.

"I thought you worked here." The girl said, looking at Vi's drink.

"Nope." Vi said. The girls eyes widened as she tried to see who was actually working behind the bar. "So what's your name, or do I have to keep calling you beautiful?" Vi said cockily, gaining back the woman's attention.

"Kara. And I'm only telling you so you stop embarassing yourself. My boyfriend's over the back there" she pointed her thumb behind her. Vi looked towards the back of the room where she pointed, there were four guys playing cards, laughing obnoxiously, none of them particularly attractive.

"Soo, why are you still over here then?" Vi said smiling. The girl looked back over at the group of guys, they were laughing, loudly, clearly joking with eachother about something stupid.

"Are you always like this?" Kara asked, her eyes were curiously following the contours of Vi's bisceps, wondering what they could do.

"Definitely." Vi answered, taking another gulp of her drink. The girl laughed at her exasperatedly, she hated how much this girls stupid methods were working on her. "The names Vi." She said, holding out her hand. Kara took it, she took a sharp inhale as their hands slipped out of eachothers, slowly, their fingers brushed eachothers as they seperated.

"You're just impossible aren't you?" Kara said in a whisper, her mouth closer to Vi than ever.

"Don't you know it babe." Vi slid her hand down to reach Kara's, her hand danced from her hand to the back of her waist, pulling her body towards her. Her lips brushed the girls neck as she laid a kiss against her skin, nipping it slightly after. Kara gasped and reached for Vi's hand, peeling it away from her, freeing herself.

"He's right there are you insane?!" She hissed, blood rushing to her cheeks and ears. Vi chuckled menacingly, her voice quiet and low.

"We'd better go somewhere else then." Vi said, the seductive side of her shining through. Kara flashed Vi an impulsive look, she grabbed her hand and pulled her towards the door, completely exasperated by her own quick decisions. Vi took her back to her own flat, Kara was pretty surprised Vi was living in Piltover but she wasn't in a place to think about that much. Vi had her pinned against the wall as soon as the front door had closed behind them. She pressed her thigh between Kara's legs as she kissed her, releasing a growl from the girls throat. She laughed menacingly, as the heat rose between the two women. "What do you think your boyfriend would think?" Vi whispered into her ear, she shivered.

"He'd fucking love it." She said, her voice raspier than before. "Too bad he's never gonna know." She bit her lip as she looked at the hunger in Vi's eyes. Her heart was racing, the impulsive decision excited her, she rolled her hips, pressing herself harder against Vi's thigh.

"Needy, huh?" Vi teased.

"Shut up, Vi." Kara said, her demeanour had completely altered from their first meeting, her eyes were half lidded and her skin was hot to touch. That's how Vi liked it. She held her hip with one hand, enough to guide her wherever she wanted, they were kissing, passionately, their tongues fighting for dominance. Vi tiptoed her fingers to the button of Kara's jeans and undid them, smoothly slipping her hand underneath the fabric, exactly where Kara needed them to be. The redhead let out a shaky breath in response, her hips desperately trying to guide Vi's fingers to the right spot. Vi smirked at the control she clearly had over her, this was where she felt her most powerful. She teased Kara with her middle finger, delicately stroking the fabric of her panties.

"Please.." Kara whispered. The corners of Vi's mouth lifted as she deftly slipped her fingers under the thin fabric. Her fingertips danced over the soft folds, she was undeniably wet which sparked inspiration in Vi's head. She dipped her finger inside her causing her to gasp quickly, the satisfaction was small as she removed her finger and brought it up to Kara's mouth. Kara took the finger between her lips and licked it gently, keeping her eyes glued to the enforcers. Vi was hypnotised for a second, but her mind was possessed with thoughts of the sheriff, and she couldn't stop herself from picturing Caitlyn in the same position. She swallowed and quickly shook the thought. Instead she leant down, her arms wrapped around Kara's hips and lifted her, she giggled slightly, it was an innocent laugh that surprised her somewhat.

Vi took Kara to her bedroom and placed her down on the side of her bed. She pulled down the waistband of the already-undone jeans and pulled them from her legs, she climbed on top of her, straddling one of her thighs. Kara went with everything Vi did, she knew what she was doing and that alone made her hot.

It was dark, in the heat of the moment neither of them had bothered to turn a light on, the sky was black but the moon was full, and that was the light they worked with. Kara pulled her shirt over her head and pulled her hair down, it looked purple by the moonlight, kind of like hers - Stop. She thought, scolding herself internally. Get over her. She reached underneath Kara's waist and lifted her up slightly, skillfully undoing her bra with the other hand. As the fabric fell away she grazed her thumb over one of her exposed nipples and slowly down the length of her torso before settling between her thighs. Kara moaned as Vi quickly slid two fingers inside her, curling them to hit the right spot, the moans were an achievement, she worked her fingers skillfully to illicit more from her. She smirked again as she watched Kara's face, her lips were parted and her head tilted back in pleasure, she looked at Vi as the enforcer pulled back her fingers, they cooled instantly as the air hit them. Kara's eyebrows needed together pleadingly, this time Vi put them in her own mouth, she felt Kara's body turn weak beneath her.

"Perfect." She whispered. Kara held her breath, she didn't know what to say but Vi had planned her next move, she pulled away from her and got up from the bed kneeling down on the floor. She leant towards Kara and wrapped her hands around the back of her knees, with a swift movement and a small squeak from Kara she'd pulled her body towards her, so that her hips were at the edge of the bed. She pushed her legs back towards her stomach, spreading her legs perfectly. Kara gasped as Vi's tongue expertly delved into her cunt, Vi laughed against her.

"I'm glad you're entertained." Kara said sarcastically. Her breath was erratic in response to the movement of the tongue inside her.

"You're fun to play with." She said, looking up at her with a slick smile.

"Ugh." She murmured. Words were not happening right now. Kara's hips rolled underneath her mouth, her muscles tensing sharply. Vi caught her hands gripping the sheets out of the corner of her eye, it drove her even more, she needed to drive her crazy, to make her forget her own name. She knew she had the power to do it, so she did. She gently lifted her left leg down and let it rest off of the bed, she took her fingers and plunged them back into her.

"Oh fuck." Kara said breathily, she felt Vi grin into her pussy as she devoured it, still using her fingers to fuck her. She sped up slightly, Kara moaned every time she curled her fingers against her walls. Vi read her body, from the tensing of Kara's stomach, to her walls gripping tightly onto her fingers, she knew the girl was about it lose it, and she took advantage. She ate her like it was the last time she'd ever eat a meal, and fingered her, harder and deeper. In a few seconds Kara's body quivered as she cried out, Vi kept going, pushing her to the limit, the release got to her and with the pressure on her g-spot her cunt splashed its clear liquid across the sheet. When Vi finally slowed and pulled her fingers away they dripped slightly.

"Wait did I just-" Kara said, sitting up and looking at the wet sheet.

Vi smirked and nodded.

"I've never-"

"Had good sex?" Vi interrupted. Kara narrowed her eyes. Vi was right, her boyfriend didn't put anywhere near as much effort in as that and she knew this was gonna make her insatiable towards him.

"Fuck..." She said again, collapsing back against the mattress. "You're just-"

"Amazing I know."

She watched Vi as she cleaned off her hands and sat on the side of the bed. "Don't you want something back?" She asked, sounding puzzled.

"Nah I'm alright." Vi said. She looked at her jacket that she'd thrown on the floor, the badge caught her eye, she didn't understand why she couldn't get her stupid sheriff out of her head. This was supposed to help, she thought.

"Are you okay Vi?" Vi didn't look at her, she just nodded. She was quiet after that, they fell asleep together nonetheless, basking in the hot smell of sex and alcohol.

Kara had no idea why she went with Vi that night, whether it was to spite her boyfriend or because Vi's "charms" had worked their magic. She never did tell her boyfriend of course, as far as Vi knew they were still together, not that she cared. To Vi, it was just a one night distraction, and to be honest she felt bad, Kara was a nice girl, she deserved better than a guy who didn't know what to do with a girl that was certain. She felt bad because, yes, it was a good night, a good distraction, but she couldn't fathom why the entire time, she was closing her eyes and wishing it was Caitlyn. But after all, Caitlyn wasn't the kind of woman you can just move on and forget.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In other news Vi is a bit of a fuckboy in this chapter, OOPS. Can't wait for Vi to accidentally call Caitlyn, Kara ;)


	8. VIII

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vi becomes an alibi

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two chapters in one night, well arent I the best. I'm SORRY I'm such a slow burn writer, I just wanted to build tension i swear!

Vi arrived at the station fifteen minutes late, she had readied herself for the impact of Caitlyn's wrath along with the lecture on punctuality but alas it never came. As she entered the office, the Sheriff herself was aggressively scrawling on a piece of paper, too focused to even acknowledge Vi. Vi put down her gauntlets and cleared her throat quietly, wondering if Caitlyn had just not registered her.

"There's been a homicide, we're treating it suspiciously until proven otherwise. He was found in his home, bludgeoned to death. No witnesses have come forward so far but we have four suspects. Three friends, and a girlfriend, he was seen with them that night." Vi swallowed, her mouth suddenly dry. Surely not. "I'm waiting for a report from pathology on the time of death." She checked her watch "Actually could you go down and find out what's going on, they're taking too long and I have one last interview to conduct."

Vi nodded reluctantly, anxiety filled her chest, she wanted to stay, to find out if it was who she thought, 4 guys and a girlfriend? It couldn't be her. Could it? She mentally shook herself and turned on her heel swiftly leaving the room.

Caitlyn followed behind, carrying a thick folder, she turned the opposite way to Vi, down the hallway to the interrogation room.

The poor girl was shaken up, clearly upset, Caitlyn knew she wouldn't have done it, she wasn't the type, but she had to remain impartial. She smiled blankly, as she sat at the table across from the girl, her hands gently in her lap. She'd given the girl a glass of water, that she shakily sipped as Caitlyn started the recording.

"Kara Grast." She said plainly. "Can you tell me where you were on the 24th of October from 10pm onwards."

"Do you think I killed him?! My own boyfriend." She said suddenly realising why she was there, panic, anger and guilt filled her stomach.

"As you were in a relationship you are automatically a suspect. All you need to do is answer my questions." Kara stared at the woman's face, her skin was pale for a Piltovian, it brought the blue in her eyes out, she was pretty but had an icy stare.

"Please tell me where you were last night." Caitlyn repeated.

"I was at Lazslo's bar, I was with Jakob, I came with him and his friends were there already. Reed, Cameran and Hull." She sniffed. "I went home early, they were gambling together, I didn't like it." She lied. The guilt was eating away at her senses.

"Your home was searched this morning, the bed was unslept in. Would you care to explain why you went home early, but didn't sleep in your bed?" Kara's eyes widened quickly, how could she not think of that.

"I -I" She stuttered.

"Please tell me the truth Kara." Caitlyn said flatly.

"I didn't go home." She said, she picked at her fingernails, she cursed herself as she realised how suspicious that made her look. "I went home with someone else." She whispered, staring at a chip in the table.

"You went home with someone else?" Caitlyn repeated. Kara nodded shamefully.

"I love him, I do but he always put them before me and I-"

"Kara I'm not in a place of judgement here, I am just here to get as much information as I can." Caitlyn said. "Can you tell me who you went home with please?"

Kara looked back at her nails, a few of them were bleeding at the edges. "Her name was Vi."

Caitlyn's heart dropped. She swallowed dryly and pressed her lips together stiffly.

Caitlyn didn't reply. She had to keep professional, but even her posture had changed. She cleared her throat and blinked.

"Can you tell me what time you left the bar?" She asked.

"I think it was around 11pm somewhere." Kara said, it all happened so quickly at the time.

"Can you tell me what happened after you left?" Caitlyn clenched her teeth as she waited, she didn't want to hear the answer to the question. Just take what you need and leave the rest behind. She told herself.

"I went to her place... and we - well." Kara looked at the glass wall on her right, how was she supposed to word this?

"Did you have sexual intercourse?" The sheriff asked, her grip on the pen tightened as she asked, she didn't make eye contact this time.

"Yes." Kara whispered, feeling ashamed. Caitlyn nodded, the hurt rising through her core. A flashback hit her, their kiss, for a second it was perfect, of course, now it was tainted. The same night. She realised she hadn't blinked for a few seconds, her eyes grew wet as she blinked quickly.

"Has this happened before?" She asked, regaining her professional motive.

"No. I'd never seen her before." Kara replied confidently. Did Vi do this to spite her?

"Have you been unfaithful prior to this?"

Kara shook her head quickly, that was certain.

"What was different about last night? Was there an altercation between you and Jakob?" Caitlyn asked.

"No, I've never done anything like that before, she was just there and .. she just said the right things. I felt wanted." She whispered the last part.

Caitlyn nodded to herself, Vi made her feel wanted too, almost every day for that matter. And I pushed her away. She thought.

Every detail the girl told her was like a knife twisting into her heart, and the worst thing was she was the one asking the questions. You're the one that turned her down, you have no right to be jealous. She told herself.

"Mhmm." She said, she couldn't help the bitterness that seeped into her voice.

After concluding that the girl was telling the truth and scrawling some notes down she stopped the recording and ended the interview, all she needed now was someone to attest that alibi.

She released Kara and sent her back home, the girl sniffled as she walked away. Caitlyn returned to her office, Vi was there reading through the case report, her lips pressed together in a fine line, her knee was jittering nervously.

She looked up at Caitlyn, she knew. The sheriffs face remained unchanged, it was taught and still, like it was carved from marble.

"You're her alibi. I need to interview you." She said, her voice unforgiving.

Vi swallowed, and got up without a word. She followed Caitlyn to the interrogation room, it was too silent between them, Vi always had something to say, but they both knew that there wasn't anything left now.

Caitlyn started the recording and stated both of their names as protocol. She cleared her throat.

"Where were you from 10pm onwards on the 24th of October."

"Laszlo's." Caitlyn frowned in response, she knew Vi was at her house, and though she didn't need the rumours that would entail if the recording got out, it irked her that Vi had broken the rules. Maybe anything Vi did right now would annoy her.

"Can you tell me what you did from there onwards please?"

"I was probably there for a couple of hours, I met a girl and got talking to her, had a drink, went home."

"What was the girls name?" She knew of course, but leading questions were off the table, she couldn't influence answers, even if the answers belonged to her enforcer.

"Kara." Vi whispered.

"Would that be Miss Kara Grast?" Caitlyn said.

"I never asked her last name." Vi said, Caitlyn wasn't surprised at that. She opened the folder and pulled out a photo of the girl, she looked at the features of her face, her eyes were huge and blue, much brighter than her own. It stung.

She sighed quietly and slid the photo over to Vi. Vi nodded, she was slumped in her chair with her arms crossed, she casually slid it back with two calloused fingers.

"Did Miss Grast go home with you?" Caitlyn said reluctantly.

"Yeah." Vi replied.

"Okay. And what happened after that?" Caitlyn's voice was robotic now, she had untuned herself from the conversation. Vi pulled a face of disdain.

"Do I seriously have to say it?" Caitlyn didn't respond, she just glared through Vi, as if she wasn't even there.

"I fucked her."

"So you can attest that you and Kara had intercourse. Afterwards did Kara stay with you in your home or did she leave?"

"She left this morning, half an hour before I left for work at 7:30." Vi was genuinely relieved when she woke up to find her bed empty, she was bad at morning afters.

"Have you seen Kara Grast before?" Caitlyn asked, slightly curious.

"No, that was the first time I'd met her." Vi replied.

"And did you know Miss Grast had a boyfriend?"

"Yeah she said." Vi said, she seemed relaxed, but she knew Caitlyn was acting weird about this. She had no right.

"Did Miss Grast hint towards any altercations or tensions with their relationship?"

"I mean other than coming home with me not really, she just seemed unbothered by him." She said.

"Thank you, that will be all. Ending interview at 10:14am." Caitlyn flicked the record button back and picked up her folder, she kept her eyes down, focusing on the paper. She quickly turned and left the room, her enforcer trailing behind her.

"Cait can we just talk a second?" She snapped her head to face the enforcer, glaring.

"No! I have enough to deal with today, I don't need you adding this bullshit to my workload." She spat, the little crease appearing between her eyebrows. Even she had to admit, that came out more ferociously than she had thought. The jealousy had built up throughout the two interviews, and forcing it back in an attempt to be keep professional had only made her feel more bitter. "Just go home Vi. You can't work a case you're personally involved in anyway." She said, as the words left her mouth she realised her own irony. She was too personally involved, and that was exactly what scared her about her feelings for Vi.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> GAAAYYYY
> 
> But srsly someone pls tell me this is worth carrying on with
> 
> it feels like im screaming into the gay void


	9. IX

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pink PPD

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> V smol chapter here, this honestly is the calm before the storm so enjoy the lightheartedness

Tensions were high between Caitlyn and Vi over the next few days. Caitlyn had closed the case by the time she went home, It was a robbery, Jakob was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Kara moved on and stayed with her parents, she took it as a new chapter and announced a change in her sexuality.

It wasn't just the butting heads of Piltover's Finest fuelling tensions within the Warden's Department. The petty crime rate was increasing, small laws were broken each day that passed, to start with, someone had painted the stations exterior a luminous shade of pink and placed a big pink X on the double doors. As Caitlyn approached the building she had to rub her eyes, thinking she was just blinded with exhaustion. No, that is definitely pink. When Vi arrived shortly after he, she walked into the office still chuckling to herself. Caitlyn shot daggers at her with her eyes and Vi bit her lip, evidently trying hard not to laugh.

"Aw come on its kinda cute Cait." She said smirking.

"No it isn't! This isn't funny." Caitlyn said angrily. "Whoever did this is mocking us all."

"Its just some dumb kids, I totally would have done that when I was younger." She said, sitting on the chair opposite Caitlyn. She put one of her gauntlets down on the desk and pulled out a tiny tool kit from her pocket. She started taking apart the thumb joins, placing screws and bolts down on the wood. Caitlyn sighed as one of the screws rolled onto the paperwork in front of her.

"We need to get you a desk don't we?" Caitlyn said sleep deprivation seeping into her voice. Vi shrugged, she was focused on calibrating finger joints, there was a screw held between her lips as her eyebrows knitted together in concentration. It was about the only time that girl had any focus, when she was fiddling with hextech. Mother would be fascinated by her handiwork. She thought.

"Shit." She said quickly remembering the plans she'd made with her mother.

"My mother's coming in half an hour, to do some maintenance to my gun." Vi looked up at her and raised an eyebrow.

"Now probably ain't the best time in our relationship to be meetin parents." She said sarcastically, retrieving another glare from her superior. "Wait why does mommy have to fix her baby's gun? You can't do it yourself?" Vi murmured, the screw still between her lips.

"Routine maintenance, yes. But my mother is a hextech designer, she's got some functions to add to it. That I cant do myself unfortunately." She sighed, starting to fill out the paperwork report of why the building was now pink.

"Besides, I don't think she'd sleep at night if she hadn't checked over that gun once a month, I'm not convinced she even changes anything sometimes."

Vi fueled her focus into the gauntlets a frown appeared, as she tested one out. Something wasn't quite working. Vi didn't notice that Caitlyn had made a phone call in that time, and within the next ten minutes a desk was brought in for her.

"Where do you want it?" Caitlyn asked.

"Huh? Wait you were serious? But it's supposed to be the Sheriff's office?"

"This is where I remind you that the Sheriff is me." She said. "And we are partners, anything anyone needs to tell me they can tell you too." Vi grinned excitedly and stood up, surveying the room.

"By the window for sure." Caitlyn nodded and directed guys at the door to move it there. The desk itself was similar to Caitlyns, not as bulky and fancy looking, but it was of course empty. She picked up her gauntlets and precariously balanced them on the desk, she stood backwards to admire the scene, as if she were viewing modern art. Caitlyn carried on writing the report on her now pink workplace, her jaw clenched as she wrote.

There was a knock at the door. "Come in." Caitlyn called.

"Caitlyn my darling how are you? I take it the pink wasn't your decision?" She said with a chuckle. Vi grinned and looked expectantly for Caitlyn's reaction. She scoffed as she stood up to hug her mother. The similarly dark haired woman winked at Vi as she embraced her daughter. Vi found herself somewhat bemused by the older woman, she didn't expect her to be quite so much.. warmer than her daughter.

"Mother, this is Vi."

"Oh I know!" She said grinning, she walked over to Vi and held out her hand.

"Liz Beaumont. I've heard a lot about your work young lady." Liz said kneeling down beside Vi, admiring the gauntlets. Vi scrunched her nose up at the idea of being called 'young lady'. She paused for a second, thinking. Liz Beaumont..

"Wait Liz as in Eliza.. you're the Professor Eliza Beaumont?" She said looking between Caitlyn and her mother. They both nodded. "Oh my god, I- I don't know what to say. Cait why didn't you tell me your mom is Eliza Beaumont?!" She said, her eyes accusatory but full of excitement. Caitlyn smiled softly, it was hard not to find her entertaining, even if she did infuriate her most of the time.

"Show me how these infamous gauntlets work!" Eliza said, tapping Vi's desk. Caitlyn had sat down and continued her paperwork, a smile teased her lips as she listened to her partner and her mother both marvelling over hand built hextech together. Vi showed her everything she knew, she explained the problems she was having with the heat management. Eliza helped her talk through the problems and suggested a few changes. Within half an hour Vi had her gauntlets on and was bewildered at how much smoother they were running.

"This is AMAZING!" Vi said, flexing her fingers and punching the air as practice. Liz stood up and watched Vi in bemusement, she shared a look with Caitlyn. Caitlyn knew that look from her mother, she pretended not to see it. "Thank you so much." She said admiring her perfected fists.

"Always happy to look at some hextech, speaking of, darling where is that rifle of yours?" She asked. Caitlyn pointed to the gun cabinet with her pen.

"Vi would you give me a hand?" Vi's eyes widened in response.

"I don't think I should touch that." She said grimacing slightly, knowing how protective Caitlyn was over it.

"Nonsense. You're a fine hextechnologist, come on." She said encouragingly. Vi glanced at Caitlyn, begging for a response, Caitlyn nodded, giving her permission to work on her rifle with her mother. Looking between the two women Vi started noticing the similarities between them, Eliza had the same piercing blue eyes, but hers were much warmer, always smiling. She was motherly, and it was a comfort to Vi. Eliza placed the gun on the desk in front of Vi and stood over her, showing her how it worked happily.

"The brackern crystal is the primary source of power, without it, this would be just like any other gun." Eliza said as she released three safety catches, the cage that held the brackern crystal opened revealing it in all its glory. She picked it up and placed it in Vi's hands, the light that emitted from it made her hands glow. Caitlyn glanced over, Vi's eyes were lit up with the red glow, she was completely bewildered. Caitlyn couldn't help but feel warmed by the way her mother was behaving with Vi, Vi's face was full of childlike wonder. She never got to be a child. She thought a frown forming as she realised how much of Vi's behaviour it explained.

"Aren't brackern cystals like super rare?" Vi whispered, still in complete awe. Eliza nodded firmly, she explained that their family clan had been made up of many famous and successful hextechnologists. "It's a dangerous game to play." She said quietly. Vi raised her eyebrows, expecting an explanation. "Caitlyn didn't tell you about the incident?" They both looked at Caitlyn.

"No, I didn't." She sighed.

"We'll save that for another day. Ill show you the maintenance routine shall I? Then when Caitlyn's busy you can calibrate her gun for her." Vi nodded, still wondering what other stories Caitlyn hadn't told her. Together they worked on Caitlyn's rifle, Vi was rapidly picking up how it worked, and asked her questions about how it was made and how Eliza had designed it. It was nice for her, to be able to share her interests with someone else, it surprised her how down to earth Eliza was, if someone had told Vi she'd be bonding with a Piltoverian Professor over hextech she would have laughed in their faces.

Within the next hour Vi knew the ins and outs of Caitlyn's rifle, if anything, she felt like she knew more about Caitlyn too, it made her feel closer to the sheriff. When the two women had finessed the firing mechanism, Eliza passed the gun to Caitlyn. Caitlyn stood up, immediately pulling her rifle up to aim, she glared down the sight to get a feel of any changes. "Perfect." She said smiling proudly at Vi. Liz nudged Vi gently with her elbow, Vi chuckled softly. "Thank you both."

"Oh, before I go, your father and I are of course hosting a small get together next week, in honour of our thirty year wedding anniversary. Caitlyn please bring your wonderful enforcer, I would love to see you both there."

Vi looked at Caitlyn, who had raised her eyebrows slightly, a little surprised at her mothers suggestion. Caitlyn read her mother just as she would anyone else, she knew exactly what she was doing, she just didn't expect her to be quite so forward about it. Eliza grinned at her daughter, she knew Caitlyn was onto her and she took enjoyment in winding her up a little.

"It's a perfect opportunity for Vi to be introduced to the higher clans." She said. Vi bit her lip, already getting worried. She knew she was an acquired taste, and to be truthful she did not want to hang out with the fancy-pants Piltover prissies.

"Mhm." Caitlyn said, her lips pressed into a firm line. "We'll be there." Vi looked up at her in horror, after witnessing the staring contest between Caitlyn and her mother, Vi wasn't completely sold on meeting the rest of the family.

"Perfect! I'll see you then lovely." She said pulling her slightly disgruntled daughter into a hug, she pulled her raven haired head into her chest and held her for a second. Vi watched them admiringly, it was nice. She wondered though, why Caitlyn was so cold and stubborn with her emotions, when her mother was the complete opposite. Did something happen? She wondered.

"Beautiful to meet you Vi, I look forward to seeing you next week darlings." She said leaving, just when they thought she had left she quickly peaked her head around the door and said: "For what it's worth its a lovely shade of pink!" and disappeared again. Vi laughed, and even Caitlyn even let out a small chuckle along with a signature eyeroll.

"Cait?" Vi whispered loudly.

"Yes, Vi."

"How small is small get together?" She asked curiously.

"Probably around 40-50 people." Caitlyn replied casually.

Vi choked "Wha-?"

Caitlyn chuckled "You have a lot more to learn if you want to be on that level with my father." She watched as Vi's face contorted into regret, she rested her head on her fists as she slumped against her desk.

"Come on, we have a paint trail to follow."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> GUESS WHOO


	10. X

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A dark insight into Caitlyn's past

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: This chapter touches on rape and I guess gore and blood as well, Pls dont read it if youre worried, I can TLDR at the end if you want xx
> 
> There will be a line breaking up a flashback so if you want to avoid that part stop at the line and then carry on after the next! Hope thats okay!

Vi rang the doorbell to Caitlyn's front door, she smoothed down her jacket, making sure everything was in place, she rushed the end of the cigarette and threw it over her shoulder, exhaling away from the door so her partner didn't come out instantly irritated with her. Caitlyn took longer than usual, leaving Vi to wonder if she should knock again, then just as she lifted her fist the door flew open. Caitlyn was bent forward, her hands fiddling with something behind her neck. Vi looked at her, her eyebrows knitted together, with confusion or concern, of which she couldn't tell.

"The bloody clasp is stuck." She said, clearly a little flustered. "Please help." She said handing the dainty necklace out to her partner, as she turned her back to her and pulled her hair to one side.

"This is why I don't do girly shit." Vi said, holding the delicate jewelry up to the light. It was simple and pretty, but Vi never cared much for that kind of thing. Maybe on her, she thought as she clumsily undid the clasp and gently placed the pendant over Caitlyn's head. With the chain over the top of her hair, Caitlyn slowly pulled it out of the way, revealing more of her pale skin. She shivered slightly as Vi's cold hands brushed the nape of her neck reconnecting the clasp, Vi was close, close enough to breathe in the warm smell of her perfume.

"There." She said, letting the pendant drop naturally to where it should fall. Caitlyn released her hair again, letting it cascade down her back, she turned back to Vi. Who finally got a proper view of the elegance before her. She wore a plain black dress, it was simple and understated but hugged her figure effortlessly, the dress was strapless, perfectly displaying the impeccable contours of her collarbone. Their eyes caught as they explored one another's presentation, they lingered there for a moment, lost in themselves.

The door blew shut behind Vi, pulling them back to reality. She cleared her throat awkwardly.. "We should probably get going." She said, letting her eyes flicker back to the raven haired Sheriff, who quickly nodded in response.

When they arrived there Vi became unnaturally quiet, Caitlyn smiled to herself, Vi was being quiet because she didn't want to get herself in trouble, she wasn't used to filtering herself. "Vi, you can speak." She whispered. Vi blushed slightly, a little embarrassed at how hard she was trying.

"I know, I was just thinking.." She said.

"Vi, I know when you're lying." She said firmly, looking at her through her eyelashes. "Just be yourself, you don't even have to do the talking. These people seeing you here, with me is enough. We're just letting them familiarise with you. Besides, the real reason we're here is because you were invited, so we will celebrate and have fun." She said, reaching for Vi's hand and giving it a reassuring squeeze. "You're an equal here."

Caitlyn's father glanced over, at the exact time their hands connected, his jaw pulled taught as he approached them, clearing his throat loudly. Caitlyn's smile dissipated quickly, her posture stiffened. "Father." She said, as she leant in to kiss his cheek.

"I didn't know you were bringing anyone, let alone a woman." He said in a hushed voice, just loud enough for Vi to hear. Caitlyn took a sharp intake of breath, her lips had parted ready for her response when her mother approached with a warm smile. "Vi I'm so glad you came!" She reached for Vi and pulled her into her arms for a hug "Ignore that miserable sod." She whispered into Vi's ear.

That made her smile, at least two people were on her side. When they pulled apart she noticed the glare off between Caitlyn and her father.

"Cedric this is Vi, Vi this is Cedric, my wonderful husband." Her tone wavered on the word wonderful. Caitlyn smirked and looked away, trying not to draw attention to herself.

"Nice to meet you sir." Vi said, graciously holding out her hand. Caitlyn watched her, proud that she'd already picked up some good habits. He glared at her hand, the sleeve of her suit jacket lifted slightly, revealing the scars that littered her skin. His hesitation was intentional, but after receiving a sharp jab from his wife's elbow he reluctantly shook Vi's hand. She smiled politely, determined to be the bigger person.

"Come on darling, the Derant's are looking for you." Eliza said, steering her husband away, she turned back to Caitlyn and comically rolled her eyes.

A waiter walked past, Vi smoothly picked two champagne glasses off of the tray as he slowed. She offered one to Caitlyn, who screwed her nose up in response, it was the one drink she couldn't swallow. Vi shrugged, thinking nothing of it, she poured the contents of one glass into the other, placing the empty glass on the side and taking a sip of her now double-the-size champagne.

_"You asked to see me ma'am." He stood in the doorway nervously addressing his aunt great grandmother. She was looking at a large list of incomes and outcomes, there was a gritty scrape as the blade that replaced her calve adjusted._

_"Tonight is the night. I want you to distract the girl, whilst we take the Beaumonts. You've done well so far, the family seem convinced of your little love affair."_

_He looked up at the iron woman, with a smug smile "Do I need to kill her?" He asked._

_"Doesn't matter to me. If you want to kill her you can, she's useless to us. You're in charge." He inhaled and puffed up his chest, he would do anything and everything to follow in his family's path to succession, so he took his role in the plan and embraced it, plotting every detail._

_Darian seemed like a perfect match for Caitlyn, at least her parents thought so, he had charmed them straight away, the concept of uniting their clans a huge temptation. Both the Ferros and the Beaumont clans paved the way of hextechnology in Piltover, and though the Ferros clan secretly saw the Beaumont's as competition, Eliza and Cedric Beaumont naively saw them as an opportunity. They put their trust in Darian, and unknowingly encouraged their seventeen-year-old daughter to take the bait._

_"You look beautiful tonight Caitlyn." He smiled gently._

_"And you sir don't look too bad yourself." She chuckled, leaning against one of the stone pillars that held the structure of the grand staircase in her stately home._

_"Kiss me." He said, beckoning the slender teen towards him._

_"My parents will see!" She said peering past him._

_"You know your parents love me anyway. They want me to marry you and you know it." He said, cocky confidence overflowing from his stance. She rolled her eyes._

_"Not here." She shook her head, her hair flowing with the movement, looking like silk as it gently brushed across her shoulders._

_He grabbed her hand and pulled her towards him, leading her in front of them. He wanted her to lead him upstairs._

_"Wait-" He said, as he quickly snatched two champagne glasses from a passing waiter._

_"Darian! We can't-" The waiter had already made his way into the next room._

_"Drink up sweetheart." He said with a lopsided grin, handing her the glass. As she lifted it to her lips, he placed a finger on the bottom of the glass, encouraging her to finish it. Her eyebrows furrowed as she downed the narrow glass, champagne, not a drink designed to be downed in one, she thought._

_"Go." Darian said, a touch of annoyance in his voice as he guided her up the stairs.. Caitlyn started walking up the marble steps before him, he looked behind, surveying whether the planted family members of his own had made their move yet._

_They got to the top of the stairs and she turned to him and smiled, together they went to her bedroom._

_"You know you're not supposed to be up here right? Especially with the door closed."_

_He grinned. "Thats why it's so exciting Cait. Besides, it was gonna happen at some point, they should know that." He said walking towards her. He took her hips and pushed her back against the wall, pushing his lips into hers. It was a hard kiss, not what she was expecting, but she gave him his due, he was patient, keeping respectable in front of her parents most of the time._

_"Hey, we finally have some time to ourselves, this is what we wanted right?" She sighed and smiled. Made her way past him and opened the doors to the balcony. The chiffon curtains flew into the room with the gentle evening breeze._

_"I suppose it is nice to spend time together alone." She said, leaning over the balcony to the back garden._

_"You know tonight is actually quite special." He said following her out onto the stone patio. He stood behind her and put a hand on her waist, pulling her to face him._

_"I was going to wait until your father announced it to everyone else, but I guess we'll be missing that now."_

_"What is it?" She said, looking worried. He grinned a handsome proud smile._

_"Your mother and my father had agreed on a contracted design partnership." He said, another lie, his mother wasn't the decision maker in the family._

_"Oh." She said quietly. He frowned._

_"You aren't happy?" His grip tightened on her hip._

_"Of course I am-"_

_"It means I can provide for you Caitlyn, we'll be wed within a few years, and we'll have enough money so you don't need to spend all your time in the forest hunting for food."_

_"That's not why I hunt-" She protested._

_"You can just keep pretty and perfect, you can stay inside our beautiful home and look after our perfect children and you'll never work a day in your life. Isn't that everything you'd ever want? I'll treat you like a queen Caitlyn. You deserve that." She smiled an empty smile. He watched her reaction as he spewed the lies he thought she wanted to hear. Isn't that what every girl wanted?_

_"I love you." He said, leaning in to kiss her again, this time more gently. His fingers intertwined with hers as her pulled her into the kiss. They pulled apart and she smiled again uncomfortably._

_"Come on." He said pulling her back into her bedroom. Once they were inside he shut the doors behind him and turned to her. He took her hand and spun her around as they would if they were dancing downstairs. She laughed happily as he pulled her head against his chest. Still not a sound from downstairs he thought. He still had some time to fill._

_"Let's make tonight more special." He said, a gentle smile, like he wouldn't let anything in the world hurt her._

_"What do you mean?" She whispered._

_"Don't look so worried, I said I would always keep you safe didn't I?" He said as he came closer to her and put his lips to her neck, breathing in her sweet warm scent. His hands bravely explored her body, as he kissed up from her collar bone to her jaw and back to her lips. His hand travelled to the back of her dress and slowly tugged the tiny silk bow undone, loosening the garment._

_"What are you doing?" She said, pulling away instantly, holding her dress towards her body._

_"Come on sweetheart, you know we won't get a chance better than this." He said, his voice deep, almost threatening, but she tried to ignore it._

_"I don't know if I-"_

_"Caitlyn you love me right? You want to be with me for the rest of your life? Because if you don't I understand. But at some point this is going to happen anyway, so why not now, when we actually have time alone?" She paused and bit her lip, looking towards the floor._

_"Look. Its fine if you wanna be on your own then we can just-"_

_"N-no, you're right. I'm only going to be with you. I don't want anyone else." She said. Her voice wavered slightly, but she blamed it on the chill in the room._

_"You trust me don't you Caitlyn?" He said, as he slowly pulled her hands away from her dress. He swept up her hair and pulled it over her shoulder, delicately placing it out of the way so his fingers could unlace the back of her dress further. He was behind her as the dress loosened, he let it slide naturally off her with its own weight._

_She stood there, her underwear all that was left feeling more naked than she ever thought possible. Loose lace gently clung to her naked skin, he went for the clasp at her back, greedily undoing it and sliding the straps off her shoulders as he took in the sight of her naked breast. She was pale for a Piltoverian, her nipples the same shade of pink as her lips. Goosebumps covered her skin as the cool air enveloped her._

_He grazed a thumb over her breast, rough skin brushing her nipple. She murmured a shy moan, not wanting to draw attention to herself._

_He still heard it and smiled, bending down in front of her, his darkest desires slowly coming to a reality, in the palm of his hand. She fidgeted uncomfortable at how close he was to her, feeling his breath against her inner thighs. He enjoyed it, knowing how awkward she was, it was a turn on for him, especially now._

_He knelt in front of her and kissed along the line of her panties, she breathed deeply and sighed as his kisses left a trail of quickly cooling saliva. His eyes greedily drank the sight of her in front of him, she was immaculate and pure, just not for much longer, he thought grinning to himself._

_There was a shrill scream from downstairs, Caitlyn's eyes widened, she lurched grabbed a dress robe from the back of the chair. This was it, he thought._

_As her hand just reached the door handle it slammed it shut underneath her, he'd gotten there first, and he wouldn't be letting her leave._

_She tried to pull it open anyway, but Darian was bigger than her, and much stronger._

_"What are you doing, let me out Darian!" She looked at him, panic in her eyes. He chuckled darkly, his hand snaking around her hip claiming her. She glared at him, thinking he had just misread the situation, but the darkness in his eyes was there. This was no mistake. In a second he had pushed her to the floorboards. She grunted and tried to catch her breathe as she winded herself against the hardwood. Before she had composed herself enough to get up his hips were pressed against hers pinning her down. He pulled a knife out and dragged the cold blade slowly down her spine, she froze, her whole body tense and still, she gulped, fear bubbling into her throat. She wanted to scream, but that blade was a threat._

_"You my dear, aren't going anywhere. " He whispered, leaning towards her ear. When the blade reached the bottom of her spine it caught on the lace lingerie, tearing through it easily._

_"Please don't." She said quietly._

_She heard the belt buckle unclip and the zip as he released himself._

_"No.."_

_"Shut up." He said, firmly pressing the blade against her back. "We're taking your family to work for us, and I want you to hear their screams whilst I use you."_

_Her breathing shuddered, she felt him line himself up and force it inside her. She bit her lip hard to stop herself from yelping, the iron taste of blood filled her mouth. He thrust into her agressively, the pressure of him bruised her hips as they hit the floorboards. There was another scream outside, she was certain it was her father shouting her name. Her body jolted with fear as she instinctively tried to get up. Darian saw and grabbed a handful of her hair, forcing her face to the floor, he pressed the blade sideways into the soft skin of her back, just the tip. She yelped that time, he pressed against the blade harder, she hissed quietly as the blade pierced her skin._

_Caitlyn was completely helpless, she gave in, letting herself go limp, numb even, as he sated himself with her body. She stared at wooden grain in the flooring, making shapes and patterns, anything to focus on, a tear rolled to the floor from her eyelash. What would her parents think if they saw her like this?_

_"Please stop." She whispered quietly. He scoffed and spat down between her thighs, making it easier for him to take what he wanted._

_"I knew you were uptight but this is something else." Her jaw clenched in attempts not to scream._

_The guilt, and the disgust that ran through her blood had turned to determination, and after what felt like an eternity she felt him turn rigid between her thighs. She knew that was her chance, sure she was in a vulnerable spot right now, but not as vulnerable as him. As his body twitched against her, she dug her nails hard into the wood, pulling her knees underneath herself, she turned quickly and grabbed the blade from his hand and swiped it across his throat. Blood flooded out, covering the both of them._

_She dropped the blade, her breathing completely erratic. His body fell forward in front of her feet, his eyes dead and cold. Caitlyn gasped and she panicked, her body threw itself backwards, hitting the wall, her eyes were wide, frozen, her naked chest rising and falling faster than it ever had._

_The pool of blood expanded with every pulse of his slowly halting veins, it touched her toes now, warm and thick. She screamed inside her own head for her body to move, but it was a nightmare, and her body wouldn't respond. She stayed there, frozen for a moment, after a minute or so she reached out to her bedsheets, her hands quivering sporadically, she whipped the silk blanket from the top of her bed and threw it over his body so she couldn't see him. It was then that she let herself crumple, letting herself give into an unconscious state of shock as she cried into the pillow._

_When her eyes blinked open the next morning, her head was throbbing along with the rest of her aching injuries. She sat up, memories of the night flooded back to her, she looked down at her naked body and grimaced, pulling her knees up to her chest, covering herself, holding herself. She let out a small shaky breath, it contrasted the silence, it was then that she realised she was alone, the birds sang outside her window as they did any other day. The birds didn't know what happened the night before, but neither did she, not really._

_As she realised how alone she was, it hit her that she was the only person who could pull her up from this mess. And so, slowly, she stood up, she used the bed to steady herself as she crossed the room to get some clothes. The girl paused, as she caught the silhouette of her own delicate reflection. There she was, in the mirror, a body, dappled with bruises, a map of places that didn't belong to her anymore. Why? She thought. She remembered what he said; they took her parents._

_She had to find them._

_She took a long deep breathe, closing her eyes tightly, she blindly turned away from the reflection and forced herself to separate her emotions from her body. She had to find out where they were._

Caitlyn let Vi mingle, encouraging her to speak with a few of the nicer council members, letting her be known and respected, as she deserved to be. Caitlyn helped herself to her fathers whiskey whilst Vi chatted to one of the more encouraging statesmen. She took a sip, the strength of the flavour spread over her tongue, the familiar burn that hit the back of her throat was exactly what she craved. She stood there, just watching Vi from afar as she conversed. She was doing exceedingly well, sure the airs and graces were heavily put on, but the guests were lapping it up. Caitlyn continued sipping quietly as she watched them, she saw Vi look over to her. Caitlyn topped her glass up once more before striding over to her partner. Vi bowed to her as she approached. Caitlyn laughed and shook her head.

"Too much?" Vi asked with a cheesy grin.

"Too much." Caitlyn agreed with a smile. Vi looked around, properly acclimatising herself to the Beaumont's beautiful home, the ceilings were high and inlayed with a similar gold patterning to most historical Piltoverian infrastructure. There was a huge chandelier hanging over the center of the room, the floor was cleared for the party, there were a few couples dancing across the marble floor, laughter bubbling between them.

"Come on." Vi said, holding her hand out. Caitlyn stared down at Vi's hand, a look of confusion in her eyes. Vi watched as Caitlyn's eyes flickered between the dancefloor and Vi's hand.

"You don't know how to-"

"Course I do, ma'am." She said, she took a step forward and wiggled her fingers, trying to encourage the sheriff to take her hand. Caitlyn quickly finished the last of her drink and placed the glass on a nearby table, she took Vi's hand and let her lead her to the middle of the floor.

"Vi I don't know how to lead." She hissed.

"I do." Vi said, sliding her hand swiftly to Caitlyn's waist. Caitlyn's lips parted in a silent surprise, Vi had a good hold with the perfect posture, and that was the last thing she expected.

"How did you learn how to do this?" Caitlyn laughed as Vi gently lead her.

"Let's just say that I had to pay off Laszlo a lot to let me practice with him." She said with a wink. The two women blended in with every other person there, Caitlyn expected to feel the eyes of the room burning into them, but the only person that looked on at them with any negativity was Cedric. He lifted his head stiffly and sighed, he wouldn't settle for her, Caitlyn needed a well respected husband, not a Zaunite street rat. Eliza on the other hand, took a glance from the opposite side of the room, a loving smile on her face.

Vi lifted up Caitlyns hand, leading her to swirl under it, as the world spun around her, she twirled herself back into a dark memory, spinning with someone else, him. When Vi pulled Caitlyn back into her chest, her eyes were full of fear, but fixated on the floor. Vi stopped and lifted Caitlyn's chin with one finger guiding Cailtyn to look at her. "Cait what's wrong?" She asked, concern lining her voice.

"Nothing, sorry." Caitlyn said, finding her footing again, she shook off the dark memory and carried on dancing with her partner. When the song ended to a halt she pulled Vi back from the dancefloor and grabbed another glass of drink.

"Whoah cupcake slow down." She said watching the sheriff take a long sip.

Caitlyn spluttered slightly on the mouthful of whiskey "Cupcake?" She said, her voice a little too loud, a view people turned their heads. "You need to drop that shit." Vi smirked a little surprised at the swearing. She lived to wind Caitlyn up, but Caitlyn wasn't usually one for casual foul language.

"You know, you are a really good enforcer Vi." Caitlyn said, sauntering slightly on the spot, the high heels were getting difficult to manage.

"Thank you." Vi said, looking at Caitlyn curiously.

"And you look amaazing in a suit." She said, her words slurring a little. Vi raised her eyebrows, Caitlyn had definitely had one too many drinks. Just as Vi took hold of Caitlyn's arm, ready to support her, Eliza approached.

"How are my beautiful girls?" Eliza's eyes connected with Vi's as she grimaced slightly. She read the enforcers look and studied her daughters flushed cheeks.

"Oh Caitlyn." She said, there was a level of pity in her eyes that Vi didn't quite understand.

"It might be best if she stays here tonight, it will be easier than carrying her home." She whispered.

"I'm not staying here." Caitlyn protested, she sounded like a child for a second.

"It'll be easier Cait, you won't have to walk home, besides its cold and dark outside." She said, stroking Caitlyn's arm, her skin was warm with the alcohol flowing through her veins.

"Vi darling you can take her upstairs and get her some water, it's the second door to the right of the stairs landing." Vi nodded. She made sure she had enough support against her partner to get her safely up the marble staircase.

"Come on then cupcake.." She said.

"Vi." Caitlyn whispered.

"Yes.." Vi replied as they reached the top of the stairs.

"Kiss me again." Caitlyn said looking up to her. Vi sighed, she looked back down the stairs and saw Caitlyn's father glaring towards them.

"If you still wanna kiss me tomorrow, we can talk about it in the morning okay?" She said, steering her to the door. She opened it, and pulled Caitlyn through. Caitlyn turned to close the door behind her, she hadn't slept in this room for years, and as she closed the door her mind jumped back and in her head it slammed in front of her without her her even touching it. The shock of her own imagination made her fall to the floor, she couldn't help but let her eyes drift to the floorboards next to her, and she saw him, the pool of blood and the cold dead eyes of Darian Ferros. Vi watched, as Caitlyn's breathing descended into pure panic.

"Caitlyn what's wrong?" She asked, picking up her hands and gripping them. "I'm here okay."

"Something happened, I should have told you.." She said, sadness in her eyes.

"What, when?"

"It was years and years ago, I was 17." She told her shaking her head.

"It started with my parents throwing a party, much like this one." She whispered. Vi sat herself down, on the floor in front of Caitlyn, she kept her hands tight in her own, and calmly stroked circles into her palms.

"My family clan, they were in huge competition with the Ferros'. They had planned to kidnap my parents, they lured them in, making them think they were going to unify with them and they used me to succeed." She said, the shock and fear of the flashback had sobered her slightly, and though she could still feel the warmth of the alchohol in her throat, she was speaking clearly now.

"How?" Vi asked cautiously, worried about her partner.

"There was a guy, called -" She paused, trying to get her voice to choke up his name. Vi squeezed her hand encouragingly. "Darian." She said, her jaw clenched tightly.

"To my parents he seemed perfect for me, they encouraged us to court and I .. gladly accepted that. But Darian was their game piece, their way into our family, and he played his _role_ perfectly." She leant her back against the bedframe behind her, her body loosening from the initial panic as she explained what happened that night.

"My parents threw a party, to announce the unity between the clans. They knew there would be a celebration when they fed my parents the lie that they would collaberate their skills together. So it was the perfect opportunity for them to strike: their family, my family, _all_ in one room." She took one of her hands up to her mouth and chewed her nail, an uncommon habit from the sheriff. Vi nodded, listening, she gently pulled Caitlyn's hand away from her mouth and took hold of it again.

"I think he was told to get me out of the way of things.. he took me upstairs. I was naively lapping up every word he said, at least until-" She paused.

"I heard them scream, downstairs. I knew something bad was happening, I tried to run but he got to the door first and then -" Her eyes squeezed shut as a single tear slipped away.

"It's okay." Vi said, hoping to hold her together.

"He raped me. He had a knife so I couldn't scream... and I think he'd planned to kill me after. " Vi blinked slowly, she hoped to god Caitlyn wouldn't say what she did.

"What happened?" Vi said quietly.

"When he finished, I felt his body quiver so I knew that was my chance. I managed to slip out from under him and got the blade, I didn't have time to think so I - I just ...slit his throat." She said stuttering nervously. She extended her leg out to the rug that covered the left side of her bedroom floor, she flipped the corner over with her foot, revealing a dark stain that was deep set into the wood. Vi stared at it, she couldn't imagine going through something like that, and internalising it the way Caitlyn did. Vi suddenly understood why the Sheriff was so good at seperating her own emotions from her work.

"Cait, have you ever told anyone?"

"No." She said. A thick sadness filled her throat, like a scream that needed to be released. Usually she would swallow that feeling, and carry on with her day but she looked up at Vi, she was there, her strength.

That was it, the moment she let herself feel every emotion that she needed too, because she knew Vi was there to catch her as she fell. The enforcer did catch her, she easily scooped her partner up into her arms and sat on the bed with her, holding her, rocking her gently as the woman cried into her chest.

Vi stayed at the Beaumont's house that night, Caitlyn fell asleep in her arms, and the thought of leaving her alone in that room was worse than any wrath Caitlyn's father would bestow upon them. So when Caitlyn woke up that morning with a gasp of realisation as to where she was, the feeling of Vi's strong arms surrounding her, calmed her in an instant.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Im so sorry for this v long and kinda heavy chapter, so TLDR; Caitlyn was a lil bit attacked as a distraction for her parents kidnapping and shes rly good at hiding her emotions
> 
> ALSO - if anyone feels like they need to talk or anything pls reach out 2 me xxxx


	11. XI

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The mornin afttterrr

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lil bit more light-hearted baby chapter hereee for all ur fluff needs

Caitlyn stirred slightly as the morning light seeped in through the intricate lace curtains of her childhood bedroom. She was entwined safely within her enforcers strong arms, the suit jacket she had worn the evening before draped carefully over her legs to keep her warm. Vi's eyes opened as the sleepy murmurs of the sheriff beneath awoke her. She stayed still, completely aware of the body that was curled into her.

She looked down at Caitlyn, sleeping so peacefully, no one would ever believe the words that left her mouth last night, let alone what happened to her. She thought about it some more. That was the closest they'd been, and Vi wanted to see it as a good thing, but it scared her. Caitlyn was vulnerable in that moment, and she was there holding her hands, stroking her forearm, trying to soothe her... but what if she thought she was taking advantage.

She thought about the way she felt under her fingertips, her skin was so soft and so smooth. Nothing like her own, she thought glancing at her forearms. They were covered in various tattoos and littered with scars from fighting, but Caitlyn... she was flawless, she looked like a doll to Vi.

Just goes to show that some scars aren't visible.

Vi looked back down at the woman sleeping against her chest, her long black eyelashes delicately brushed her cheeks as her eyelids quivered, she wondered if she was dreaming, smiling at the thought.

Caitlyn was a powerful woman, and Vi knew that better than most people, but here, right now, she was like a child to her and she felt the strongest compulsion to protect her. No more recklessness, no more heavy-handed Vi, she promised herself from now on, to obey every order that left Caitlyn's mouth.

Caitlyn murmured something else, her body writhed in her sleep. "No.." She said sleepily, her eyebrows furrowing over her closed eyelids. Vi shifted herself slightly, cradling Caitlyn closer. Her eyes snapped open and she gasped sharply, sitting up. Her breathing was fast and heavy, as it was the night before.

"Shh, it's alright, you're safe." Vi said, sitting up with her. Caitlyn looked around the room, her head pounded as the story she told Vi the night before floated around her mind. She couldn't help her eyes drifting back to the spot where he laid, it made her shiver. One of Vi's hands gently caressed the bottom of her forearm, to gently remind her that she was there. It calmed her and her posture relaxed slightly, leaning back into Vi.

"You stayed." Caitlyn whispered.

"I wasn't going to leave you here alone." She said, meaning every word.

Caitlyn turned to face her, she didn't say anything, she just looked at her enforcer. She was still dressed from the night before, she'd removed her tie, and her shirt sleeves were roughly rolled up to her elbows. She looked good in a clean white shirt, it fit just well enough to show off the muscle of her arms, and you could just about see the black ink of her tattoos through the cotton.

Caitlyn had a lot to process, but she was surprised. Surprised that she had found it so easy to tell Vi what happened to her that night, it was something she had sworn to herself to never tell another soul. But Vi, well she made it easy, she didn't make her feel ashamed, or weak. Vi had a way about her, she could take any negativity within her life and use it to empower herself, and thats exactly how she made Caitlyn feel. Empowered.

They looked into eachothers eyes for what seemed like minutes, however their blue and lilac pupils were only focused on the perfection of eachother for a few seconds, before their lips met once again. Vi was anxious, still unsure if it was a bad time to let this happen, but she was quickly soothed by the hand that rose up and cupped her cheek, telling her that the kiss was very much wanted.

Caitlyn's bedroom door flew open, her mother gracefully wandered in completely unaware of what she had interrupted. She had a tray with a plate of cookies and a cup of tea, in attempt to bring her daughter smoothly out of a hangover.

"Oh!" She said as her eyes finally clued her in. Caitlyn and Vi seperated as soon as the door clicked open, the sound alone surprised them.

They both stared wide-eyed as Eliza strolled in, very aware of what she would assume seeing them curled up in bed together.

"I assumed when I didn't see you back downstairs you had gone home Vi" She said, she didn't sound angry or annoyed, just genuine and confused.

"I made her stay. The alcohol made me a little over emotional I think." Caitlyn said, half telling the truth at least.

Eliza smiled, she'd half expected Caitlyn to be a little nervous last night, hence why she kept a keen eye on the pair. She was glad, that Vi was with her, she'd seen the hand that was subtly stroking Caitlyn's elbow, and it comforted her. After studying the pair for a few seconds, it was very clear that they didn't sleep together, they were laid ontop of the blankets, dressed in exactly what they were the night before. But Liz would be lying if she said she'd be angry if they had. She adored Vi, she realised that ever since that zaunite bruiser walked into her daughters life she could relax a little more, knowing she was protected.

When they returned home after their kidnapping Cedric was adamant that they would sell their house and move somewhere else. It was Eliza that reminded him of their clan's strength, that if they moved away, it would be like letting them win. She never told Cedric, but she was relieved when Caitlyn wanted to start building her own life, she felt comforted knowing that her daughter slept far away from those dark memories.

"I'd better go and get another tea then." She said with a smile, turning to leave the bedroom. Caitlyn turned her head to look at Vi, she couldn't help the laughter that bubbled out of her throat. Poor Vi did not handle awkwardness well, and that was evident from the look on her face. She looked back at Caitlyn, who was still giggling like a little girl. She covered her hand over her mouth to stop herself. "I'm sorry. You just looked so.."

"She thought we had sex!" Vi said, still shocked.

Caitlyn chuckled "She knows you're too honorable for that."

Vi furrowed her brow in disbelief, earning another chuckle from the sheriff.

There was a loud boom. An explosion had gone off in the distance.

"What the bloody hell was that?" Caitlyn said, frustration lined her voice. Now was not a good time for something like this to happen, she thought. She ran out of the bedroom and into another room on the opposite side of the hall. Vi followed her, with no idea what she was doing, but as Caitlyn stopped at the double doors of the front balcony, throwing them open, Vi saw the view and realised.

The view was vast, usually looking down you could see the Sun Gates in all their glory, the surrounding docks between them, except this time the view was hazy. There was smoke billowing from behind the Sun Gates, there were screams as the trading docks descended into chaotic panic. There was a small crackle and pop as a brightly coloured explosion spread into the sky above the scene.

"Was that a firework?" Vi said, sounding confused.

"Don't be silly, it's the middle of the d-"

Another one flew out at another direction, and then another and another, all different colours. They were definitely fireworks.

"We need to go!" Caitlyn said, she ran back to her own room and threw on some old trousers and a jumper. The trousers were a little tight in fit, but it would have to do, a floor-touching gown was not something she could police in.

The two of them rushed down the marble staircase, as they reached the bottom Caitlyn flew in to her father.

"Oh - sorry daddy! I'll bring it back-" She said as she swerved past him, she returned with his own rifle, it wasn't hers, but it would have to do for now.

Eliza walked out into the hallway, she greeted her husband with a kiss on the cheek as she watched the two officers rushing out of the front door and into action. She sighed slowly, there wasn't a day that went by where she didn't worry about her daughter and her dangerous life choices, but still she remained tall and proud.

"What on EARTH was she doing up there." Cedric said to his wife, anger filled his voice.

"Oh Cedric darling really, Caitlyn is 26 now. She can do what and who she wants!" She said turning on her heel and heading to her office. He opened his mouth to reply but by the time he had thought of a response she had gone. He shook his head, this didn't sit well with him. Not at all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Honestly the words 'her enforcer' are actually gonna melt me one day


	12. XII

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cait and Vi investigate

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, sorry its been a while I've been kinda uninspired lately!

Caitlyn arrived at the scene as soon as she could, she'd sent Vi back to retrieve her gauntlets. Rifle tucked neatly under her arm she carefully surveyed the scene, approaching the sun gates cautiously. Her sight was greatly reduced by the thick smoke in the air. It didn't seem like there were any casualties, other than damaged stock, but that could be dealt with later. 

There were lots of voices, panicked shouts, men trying to direct others to get out of the way, warning the nosy bystanders to get back. Other than that, it was quiet, and eerily so. 

The smoke was too thick to see more than a couple of metres in front of yourself, so the sheriff only took herself as far as she felt she should, keeping enough awareness of her surroundings to plan an escape routes. She stood still for a minute, listening hard to her surroundings. Footsteps behind her, heavy, not too fast, but not too slow. She readied her hands on her gun and spun around, ready. 

“Vi!” She said with an exasperated breath. “I almost killed you.” She lowered her gun. 

“Thought you said we aren’t allowed to kill unless we think we or others are at an extreme risk. We must keep battery to a minimum -blah blah blah” Vi said, mocking Caitlyn’s accent. She received a glare in response. 

Just then a man ran past, his face twisted in horror. "It's the calm before the storm, the psycho said she's preparing the finale - we need to RUN!" He half screamed at them before he vanished into the smoke. There was a high pitched giggling in the distance, Vi's eyes widened sharply, why was that sound so...familiar?

"We should back off. He could be right." Caitlyn said clearly. "Vi." She said, noticing the daze that her partner was in. "I need you to focus." Vi nodded quickly, shaking herself mentally. "We need a better view, higher up, there's no point being down here, we can't see anything."

Caitlyn lead them to an alley, there was a few of the dockhouses there, they climbed up the emergency exit stairs and managed to get on top of the roof. 

"I can see why ya like being a sniper and all." Vi said, looking down from the building, the view was incredible. 

"I wish I had time to admire the views." Caitlyn chuckled. She spent most of her time on buildings with her focus on the tiniest of targets, and that was all she allowed herself to see.

"Who do you think she is?" Vi asked. Caitlyn shook her head slowly, she had no idea, but she had a feeling she was about to find out.

"Whoever she is, she's right there." Caitlyn said, her eyes fixed on a particular spot.

"What, where?!" Vi said. Caitlyn stepped closer, she stood directly behind Vi, her head rested behind her shoulder so they had the same point of view. She took hold of Vi's hand and pointed with her to the same spot.

"Here." She whispered, her husky voice next to Vi's neck sent goosebumps across her skin. "You see where the smoke is, it’s more dense in that spot, that's where the fireworks were coming from. Where our perpetrator is hiding."

"Wait so why aren't we going in?" Vi whispered.

"It's too dangerous without any vision. She could have hostages, it could just be a complete misunderstanding, we can't assume anything yet."

Vi nodded slowly. She crossed her arms, determined to keep her eyes on the same spot. She lacked the same focus as Caitlyn, after a few minutes of solid staring into space, the anticipation energy built within her stomach, adrenaline was flying through her and she needed to use it. She shuffled about on her feet, lightly jogging. Caitlyn rolled her eyes catching the movement from the corner of her eye.

Caitlyn adjusted her posture, she tilted her head up and closed her eyes for a second, trying to detect which direction the wind was coming in, that way she could plan their next steps. If the wind blew it would give them more vision, and she knew which way to approach from. Alas, it was a rare day in piltover where there was no wind. Typical. She thought.

She readied herself anyway, staring down the scope, hoping to shed some detail and get a close up of what was going on, it wasn't enough, the smoke hadn't cleared. She sighed, preparing her fingers, making sure she had the unfamiliar rifle mapped out at least.

After about five minutes of silence, Vi was getting impatient, she yawned loudly. When she stopped it was silent, almost. There was a quiet fizzing noise, Caitlyn heard it instantly, and like a deer being hunted, her reactions were impeccably fast. She fell on one knee and firmly pressed the butt of her fathers rifle to her shoulder.

There was a small rumble, and the fizzing grew louder, as if it was growing to a climax. It was. After what felt like forever, a rocket flew into the sky with lightning speed, with a long screech. When the noise stopped there was a loud pop, a pattern of stars flew out in the shape of an X. Bright pink. After that it fell silent again, and when the wind blew away the smoke, there was no one to be seen.

[Flashback]

"So what got ya's caught up in there?" Feri asked, he offered them both some stale bread to eat. Jessa looked up at Violet, her eyes were big and glassy, her eyebrows furrowed.

"We got adopted." Violet said. "That's the home we were given." She shrugged.

"Ouch. Hope House?" He said confidently. It was the only orphanage in Zaun. The ones in Piltover - for the pretty kids - wouldn't have let them go to a chemtest unit, intentionally or not.

The girls both nodded in unison.

"Alex used to be there too. Not the friendliest of the bunch though, is our Al. Still maybe you'll be the best of friends... that's if you wanted to join us?" Vera said.

"Us?" Violet asked.

"We're a gang, group, club whatever you wanna call it. The Lost Children. And you guys.. look kinda lost to me." Vera said with a cocky grin. The two sisters looked at each other, part of Violet was very reluctant to trust anyone else again, but these kids were her age, maybe a little older. Besides could anyone treat them as bad as he did? After a minute of silent thinking she raised her eyebrows at Jess, silently asking her opinion. Jess nodded quickly, still chewing on the old chunk of bread.

“Sure.” She said casually, turning back to look at the smoke that was still fogging up the atmosphere. To think they thought that would be home, that they were wanted. 

"Family." She said as they started to walk together to their base.

"Huh?" Feri replied, looking at her with his eyebrows furrowed.

"I'd call it a family." Violet said, taking hold of her sister’s hand and smiling back at Feri.

"Me too." Said Jessa excitedly.

***

For Violet and Jessa, their new home, took shape in the form of a family. They didn't stay in one place for too long, but that didn't matter to them.

Growing up in an orphanage, in the lowest most dangerous part of the city, every child had their big dreams: being adopted into a happy loving home with wonderful caring parents, sometimes it happened, but rarely. They were taught not to get their hopes up, not to expect anything from life. That didn't stop every one of them dreaming of a warm house, with parents that wished them good night and sang to them, as they slept on the thin cold mattresses of old Hope House.

There were seven lost children when they were introduced, but the group grew and shrunk over time of course. When Vera and Feri first introduced Violet and Jessa, they brought them to their sump hideout. The other three were seated around a makeshift chemfire to keep warm, two boys and another girl. The girl stood up defensively as she watched them approach, a sharp stick gripped between her fingers.

"Put that shit down Alex seriously you're gonna poke someone's eye out! " The boy next to her said as he grabbed the stick from her grasp and threw it away.

"Maybe that was the IDEA!" She growled, sneering at him. She side eyed the two unfamiliar faces unwelcomingly.

"They're joining us, get used to it." Vera said, staring her down. Alex scowled, she sat back down with a huff and reached for another stick to stropilly prod the fire with.

"Thought we were a gang.” Alex said under her breath. “Aren't we meant to make group decisions on things like this?" She hissed, her dark curls covered up one side of her face, she huffed it out of the way with a sigh. As the hair moved away from the left side of her face it revealed a deep pink scar, it tore through her eyelid and above her brow. In the middle of the scar was the pure white iris of her left eye. It completely contrasted the olive green of her right eye, lit with fire as her glare burnt into the girls faces. 

"Fine." Vera said strongly. "This is Violet and Jessa, they just burnt down an undercover chemlab. All in favour of them both joining the Lost Children?" She said with a healthy element of theatrical sarcasm. By the time she'd finished talking everyone had raised their hands except Alex, who glared daggers into Vera.

"How the fu-"

"Remember the rules Zin, we don't ask questions about each other stories?" The guy called Zin stopped and frowned, remembering his agreement to that.

"No questions?" Violet repeated, sounding confused.

"Telling your own story is fine, but we don't pester each other about things, it's one of the rules." Zin said rolling his eyes, he was younger than Feri and Vera. Alex seemed a little older, but maybe that was her offish stance. "I'm Zin by the way, that's Mav, and just ignore Alex she's a bit of a bitch." He said, hissing as she kicked him in the shin hard. She sarcastically grinned at Violet and Jessa curtsied dramatically and walked away, leaving them slightly puzzled as to what they did wrong.

"She gets friendlier... ish" Mav said. Zin looked at him in disbelief, he shrugged. "You're part of the crew now, might as well sit down." He said gesturing towards the makeshift seats by the fire. 

They did sit down, Jessa sat on Violet's lap to make enough space for Vera and Feri to join too. Together they sat around that fire telling jokes and stories. Laughing away. Even Alex returned, and cracked a smile at one of Mav's stupid jokes. Their cheeks ached from smiling, it had been a long time since they had had any fun, or anyone else to share it with.

Jessa fell asleep in Violet's lap, as the rest of them laughed into the night, and when they couldn’t keep their yawns at bay, Vera showed them to a spot for them to sleep in.

Jessa fell back asleep straight away, she curled into her sister for warmth and sighed happily, peacefully lulling back to sleep. Violet smiled, she couldn’t think of a time they felt this happy, could she? She didn’t remember much. But when she closed her eyes that night, she couldn’t stop the visions, silhouettes in the flames, faces fading before her. Was this because of the lab? There was a sick feeling in her stomach, like another memory spilling up, had it happened before? Deja vu… it happened sometimes right, for no reason. She stroked the girls hair, gently, she wouldn’t hurt anyone, not on purpose, she was just defending herself. Us.

The tiny girl laid there, enveloped in her sisters arms, she slept peacefully, a soft smile spread across her lips. 


	13. XIII

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Flashback into Vi's past

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hiya, since I usually put my flashbacks in italics (which I didn't realise ao3 doesnt show) I thought I'd let ya know this one is a full flashback.

“What can I get ya lass?” the barman said eagerly. “Wait- how old are you? I aint servin kids”   
“Look I’m old enough to need a fucking drink so come on, please!” She said, leaning her elbows on the tacky wood of the bar.   
He studied her face, a dark bruise covered the left side of her cheek, and her nose was covered in dry blood.   
“Whoever taught you to fight needs a talkin too. You gotta keep your hands up or you’ll look like that forever.” He said, pouring a half-pint of beer.   
“I taught me to fight.” She said with an angry glare. “Is that it?” She said holding up the half-pint glass that he offered her.  
“You can’t learn to fight if you’re drunk. Come by at midnight when I close up and I'll teach you how to throw a real punch.” He said, sending her on her way.   
It pissed her off, his confidence, who was he to question her? She downed the drink and left, wiping her lips with the back of her hand. She would go back that night, but only to prove the bartender wrong. Or at least, that's what she told herself.

Laszlo taught her a lot, he was older than her, and owning a bar gave him a lot more insight than you would expect. He witnessed people self-destructing on a daily basis. He knew the fighters of the town, the criminals, the cheaters and their wives... But for some reason, he felt the need to stop Vi from following the same route as all of them. She was young and pissed off at the world, he didn’t blame her. He had a daughter, but when his wife found someone else, she left town and took the little girl with her. So for sure he knew what it was like to be pissed off at the world, but he also knew that it was a huge waste of time. 

Vi met with Laszlo once a week, he taught her how to fight cleanly and fairly, he taught her the right way to defend herself, and how to look after her wounds when she did get hurt. She helped out at the bar, cleaning glasses and serving the odd customer, it was a way to pay him back. She spent a lot of time sitting at the bar, talking with him, they learnt a lot about each other after a multitude of conversations. They were an unlikely friendship, but she needed his guidance, and to him, she was the teenage girl he would no longer get to raise. 

One day she was sitting by the bar nursing a beer as she overheard the baron’s behind her, they talked of the mines in the lower city. She listened. They’d found a vein in one of the lower city mines, they cleaned it out and were just waiting for the payment to be made. She grinned, they made it so easy for her, she heard every detail, the time, the date. All she needed was a few more bodies. 

She told the gang exactly what she heard, she outlined her heist plan, and boasted the fortune they would make. With that much money, her and Jessa could find a place to live, finally a home. They all agreed to the plan, but they knew there wasn’t enough of them, they had to at least outnumber the miners, to make sure they had it in the bag. 

“We could ask the Factorywood Fiends?” Mav said, wincing slightly as he said it. The Factorywood Fiends were their rivals, they didn’t have the same code, they’d steal and hurt anyone they wanted too.   
“Are you fucking crazy?” Alex spat.  
“Al he’s right. They’re kinda our only option.” Vi said, challenging her.   
“Then we do it alone.” She said.   
“You don’t get it Alex, we can’t do that.”   
“No YOU don’t get it, we don’t mix with them. Fuck it, I’m out.” She said, she turned quickly and walked away. Vi huffed and got up, she followed her. Alex was smoking, sat on a wooden crate, by one of the fissures in the concrete.  
“What is your problem?!” Vi said as she approached Alex. Who immediately rolled her eyes and blew her drag of smoke into Vi’s face. “We could get enough money to find a permanent place to live, but you’re here and fucking it up for everyone!” Vi said, angrily.  
“We were fine without you two, you just come outta nowhere and fuck everything up, maybe that’s why your parents didn’t want you. Because you just burst out of nowhere and wreck things.” She stood up. “I don’t blame them, I wouldn’t want you either.” She said, she turned to leave but Vi caught hold of her wrist and pulled her back to face her.   
“You don't get to just walk away from everything! That’s why you’re such an asshole isn’t it? You drive them away before they even get the chance to decide if you’re a shitty person or not.” Vi said, her eyes were full of anger as she gripped Alex’s arms.

Alex saw red, she flew at Vi, throwing herself at her. The two hit the floor underneath them, Alex pulled herself on top of Vi, her stare burnt into her face. For a second, Vi thought she was going to choke her to death, but the pause as she looked at her with hungry eyes lasted too long. Still Vi was ready to retaliate, the adrenaline saturated her blood and her body throbbed, waiting for an opportunity to fight. Alex’s hands gripped Vi’s shoulders, she leant down and crashed her lips into Vi’s.  
Vi inhaled quickly, her breaths intoxicated with the girl on top of her. It was an aggressive kiss, fueled with hunger and need. She felt the cold hands snake across her stomach and up past her ribs, then Alex suddenly stopped. She got up in a rush, as if she’d forgotten where they were. She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, and glared at Vi, who was still on the floor.  
“If you dare tell ANYONE. I’ll kill you.” She spat as she walked away.

They had multiple encounters like this, using each other for their own cravings of love and touch, it was a toxic relationship, but she never expected any more from anyone, so she accepted it.

It was Laszlo that told her how unhealthy her relationships were “You just sleep around when you’re pissed off, and you’re gonna get yourself in trouble if you’re not careful.” He said cleaning up a glass.   
“Chill It’s not like I’m gonna get pregnant, I’m done with guys, they’re too easy.” He narrowed his eyes.   
“You know that’s not what I meant.” He sighed. “Do we need to have a talk Vi?” He said raising his eyebrows as he toweled the glass dry.  
“Ew no thanks I’m good.” She said sipping her drink happily.  
“You need a better relationship with relationships. One day you’ll find someone who really loves you and you won’t even realise.” He said dismissively. She rolled her eyes and mocked his speech.  
“Cool. Can we fight now?” She said, finishing her drink.   
“Help me close up and we’ll get there quicker.” He said, offering her a cleaning cloth. She took it reluctantly and began to wipe the tables. 

***

Vi did enlist the Factorywood Fiends to help them out, she stated their plan and introduced them all. The whole thing was going to plan, but something they didn’t take into account was that they didn’t know anything about mining. They failed to realise the risk that came with planning an attack under fragile ground.   
One of the gang members from the Factorywood Fiends, began to operate the mining gollum that was left from the ore extraction, its metal fists rumbled through the tunnel, the walls vibrated heavily. He attacked, throwing punches left right and centre. Vi was too busy to notice his carelessness, she was fighting another of the barons, by the time she had realised there was a crash, and everything went black. 

Jessa was gone, Vera and Feri were gone and so were a good half of the innocent miners. All dead. “JESSA!” She screamed, she threw herself onto her knees and pulled at the rocks with her bare hands, throwing them behind her.   
“Stop! They’re dead, there’s no point.” Alex said, she pulled her back.   
“We’re all going to be dead.” another voice called out from somewhere in the rubble. Both of the ways out were completely blocked, but the mining gollum was there in the corner, it was half crushed with the weight of the rocks, but its fists were still there. Vi stood up, she looked at the innocent miners, this was her fault, and she was going to fix it. She ripped off the metal fists and pulled out the mechanical arms, she pulled the release on the side, opening the casing. She put them on the floor and knelt down in front of them, she lined her wrists up against the inside of them, sizing them up.   
“Help me close them.” She said to the guy that was closest to her. He looked at her, puzzled.   
“They’re not meant to be worn.” He said.   
“Just help me.” She said through gritted teeth. She aligned her wrists up to the inner mechanisms and indicated when to press the close mechanism. As he did she screamed, the gauntlets clamped onto her wrists, the heat burnt her skin, scarring her for a lifetime.  
She dug through the rubble, each movement hurt more than the last, but she kept going, until a green tinged light shone through a tiny opening. In their eyes she had saved their lives, and they never forgot that. However in her eyes, she was no hero, she trusted the wrong people, and she was responsible for the accident. That was something, she would never forgive herself for.


	14. XIV

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vi has a catch up with an old friend

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Little TW for self harm mention in this chapter -

Each day that Vi entered the office these days, Caitlyn looked more and more haggard, her desk was a mess, and her papers had spread over every surface in the room, including Vi's desk. Her hair was up this morning, pulled into a firm ponytail out of her face, she was deeply focused. They hadn't had time to talk about the other night, there had been too much going on. The higher ups were on Caitlyn's case, asking questions: why the crime rate had suddenly increased, what she was doing to keep people safe, what people could do to protect themselves. All questions she could not answer.

Over the space of a week, there had been a factory break-in, a huge targeted robbery, and to finish it off wedding party was crashed and destroyed. The crimes weren't practical jokes anymore, people were starting to get hurt. Piltover was scared, it locked it's doors at night, gun sales went up greatly. And guess who's immense responsibility it was to fix that..

"Cait." Vi said as she entered the office. She didn't look up, she was intrepidly studying a pencil sketch of a girl with braids. She held it up to the light to see it better. No, she didn't recognise this girl.

"When was the last time you ate something?" Vi asked, looking at the state of the Sheriff before her. Did she even go home last night? Vi wondered.

"What was that?" Caitlyn said as she scribbled some notes on the sketched portrait. She finally tore her eyes up and looked at Vi.

"Here." Vi said, handing over her own breakfast. "You gotta eat." She said, casually walking to her desk, she sifted through the papers, they were witness statements. By the sounds of each account, this was the same girl, but she was so slippery, that no one knew who she was. One of the papers had a photograph stapled to it, a drawing on a wall by the looks of it. Vi looked closer, it was some kind of caricature with giant hands. Wait.

"Is this meant to be me?" Vi said with a grin. Caitlyn took the picture from Vi and tilted it underneath her eyes, Vi was right to recognise herself, there was no mistaking, it was her.

"How did I miss this?" Caitlyn whispered to herself in disbelief, standing up slowly.

"Because you haven't slept in days…" Vi said under her breath.

Caitlyn got up and fetched another witness report, she pulled the next photo from underneath its paperclip.

"Fathands…" Caitlyn whispered.

"Aw c'mon that's just rude, gimme that!" She said snatching the photo off of Caitlyn. She stared at the almost legible graffiti on the side of the Bluewind Court.

"Wow. I did not sign up for that kinda abuse." Vi said.

"She knows you." Caitlyn said.

"I mean yeah, but that doesn't say much. It's not a big deal if someone knows I exist right, of course a criminal's gonna hate the wardens." She said, deducting Caitlyn's own statements bravely. She bit her lip.

"Mm, you're right." She said. She added the photos to a pin board on the wall and scrawled a note to add to it. She stepped backwards and leant on the end of her desk as she looked at all of the cases and their links. She sighed.

"Take a break Cait. Come on let's go patrol, you need some fresh air." She said, she reached for Caitlyn's jacket and held it out next to her, offering to help put it on. Caitlyn reluctantly took her offer and put her arms in.

"When did you become so sensible?" She joked as she retrieved her hextech rifle from the cabinet and opened the door to leave.

"Ah- bring your breakfast you can eat on the way." Caitlyn rolled her eyes and gratefully took the paper bag.

"Thank you." She said as they left the room.

Caitlyn decided to follow Vi's lead, she hoped that she was right, she definitely needed a fresh perspective.

"We will find her." Vi said.

Caitlyn sighed. "I just don't understand, each case is different, so much so, that if she wasn't tagging each one I would think it was more than one person." Caitlyn said. It worried Vi slightly, Caitlyn always had a grasp on things, if she couldn't understand this, who would?

"I'll help, I can list every single person I knew from before, if that helps you. Just in case she does know me." Vi said.

"It's worth a shot." Caitlyn said. It was quiet out, the winter was on its way and most people were too scared to leave the house. They walked slowly for about half an hour, passing the horological institute. A woman was heading in their direction, she smiled at Vi casually, then her face changed, she looked back at her, her lips parted and eyebrows raised.

"Violet?" She said approaching them. Caitlyn looked at Vi as she realised who it was. Vi hadn't been called her full name since her darker days, and it filled her with a twisted feeling of nostalgia.

"Miss Rowe..?" She said slowly.

"Oh my." Cherie said as she pulled Vi into an embrace. "Look at you!" She said as she held onto her shoulders and studied her face. She was 9 the last time Cherie saw her, she waved at the door as the two girls went to her new "home".

Vi grinned proudly.

"You're with the wardens!?" She said, running her fingers over the badge pinned to her collar. "You really made something of yourself didn't you?" She looked at Caitlyn and smiled proudly.

"She was the worst behaved kid in there, I never expected her to grow up to be a warden." She winked. "What does Jessa do?! How is she?" She asked with a smile. Vi's face fell, she paused, it was hard to find the words.

"She's, well, she's dead." She said, her voice quiet, she forced a smile out, to show she was okay, but it was still full of sorrow.

"Oh love I'm so sorry.. What happened?" She said, her heart full of sadness and guilt, working at Hope House was the worst point of her life, she didn't realise how corrupt the place was and she had no control over it. She wished she had done more, but it was too late now. Jessa wasn't the only child from Hope House that didn't make it past 21, and even now, she wouldn't be the last.

"It's a long story -" her eyes flashed to Caitlyn, who looked back at her pitifully.

"Go, tell her story Vi. You need to, besides I could do with getting back to the case." She said, calmly placing her hand on Vi's arm. "Meet me back in the office?" She said. Vi nodded, she didn't want to leave Caitlyn, not in the state she was already in, but the sheriff was right, Vi needed to tell Cherie what happened. Plus, she didn't want to insist just in case Caitlyn wanted time alone to focus.

"I was just heading home, would you like to join me for a cup of tea?" Vi agreed. Caitlyn smiled, knowing how much it wound Vi up that people in Piltover kept offering her tea when she disagrees with hot drinks entirely. Vi shared the look of amusement with Caitlyn, they'd had the tea argument many times and Caitlyn loved to tease her about it.

"If I come back and find out you skipped lunch I will be on your case." Vi said playfully to her superior.

"Bye Vi." She said as she walked away with a slight half smile. Leave it to Vi to calm her down on the most stressful of days.

"I don't live far." Cherie said.

"I know, Palasida Terrace, right?" Vi said remembering the paper with her address on.

"How on earth did you know that?" She said looking slightly perplexed.

Vi gestured behind her in the direction Caitlyn left "She did some digging on me."

"Ah right, that's the sheriff isn't it? I've heard about her family, quite influential the Beaumonts." She said factually. "Prettier than I expected." She said. Vi smiled in agreement, no words were needed, no one could deny the sheer awe when you first come face to face with her.

"She's perfect." Vi said, before she even realised the words came out of her mouth. "A perfectly good sheriff." She added, hoping it made her sound less... Lovestruck.

Cherie chuckled, peering at Vi expecting her cheeks to flush.

"I always knew." Cherie said with a grin. Vi's eyebrows furrowed quickly as she processed the sentence.

"What do you mean?" She asked defensively. Cherie just laughed.

She let Vi into her house, it was a quaint little thing, with its own greenhouse attached to the side. As she stepped in she saw all of the pairs of shoes, either Cherie was a big fan of shoes, or a LOT of people lived in the same house. Cherie took her through the hall and to the kitchen, she put the kettle on and offered Vi a seat at the table.

"Mom?" a voice called from up the stairs. She had kids, that explained the shoes.

"In the kitchen lovely!" She called back.

"So tell me, what exactly did you 'always know'." Vi asked, leaning her elbows on the table.

Cherie didn't say anything, she turned to the wall and pulled down a picture frame and held it out for Vi to take.

In the picture, there were five children, all different sizes and heights, some of them had been augmented, some had scars, but they all looked completely unrelated. On the left side of them was Cherie, smiling proudly, next to her, was a taller woman, her arms around Cherie affectionately.

"Wait you're-" Cherie nodded, smiling.

"Her name's Darrel, and she didn't mind that I adopted six children." She said her eyes were full of love.

"There's only five…" Vi said, looking confused. Just as she looked up a teenager strolled into the room holding a baby. She passed the babbling infant to Cherie and jumped slightly realising they had a guest in the room. She smiled politely.

"Terra this is Vi, she used to be at Hope House too and she's a warden now." Cherie said proudly as she balanced the baby on her hip.

"Huh. That's pretty cool." She said raising her brow, she turned to Cherie "She's been fed and changed, can I please go now?"

"Yes but if you're not back before dark I'll send Vi after you." She said threateningly. Terra rolled her eyes and left.

"You adopted them all?!" Vi said, tracing their faces across the glass. "From Hope House?" She asked, hope in her eyes.

"They had been there the longest, it didn't look like they would find homes. Though this little one belonged to one of the older girls, but she wasn't coping very well." She said, looking at the baby that drooled over the fabric of her top. "I had to leave that place, so I took them with me. When they said about the chem-lab on the news, and the body of that man - "She swallowed. "I assumed you were both dead too."

Vi shook her head, and sighed. "She did that."

"Jessa?" Cherie whispered. "Oh could you just hold her a sec whilst I pour out the drinks?" She said, holding out the baby towards Vi, whose eyes were frozen in surprise.

"Uhh sure?" She took the baby and just held it out in front of her, like it was an alien that had just spoken to her. Cherie turned around to speak and couldn't help the laugh that left her mouth.

"Not the mothering type huh?" She said chuckling. "Hold her on your lap she'll like that."

Vi took her advice and held the tiny child on her lap facing her. The baby smiled, showing its gums, she leant forward her hands splayed towards Vi's face.

"She likes your hair." Cherie said catching a glance as she carried on making their drinks.

Vi pulled a face at the baby making it laugh, she couldn't deny that it was pretty cute, its skin was so perfect and unharmed, every tiny part of her was brand new and so soft. Soon the two of them had a routine of making silly faces and laughing together. When Cherie brought their drinks over with a plate of biscuits the child was quite settled with Vi, and Vi was surprisingly okay with it.

"What happened?" Cherie asked, her eyebrows furrowed.

"The guy that took us, he was making chemicals and shit -" She grimaced realising the baby was still on her lap and definitely heard her unfiltered language.

"It's fine she's too young to understand any of that yet." Cherie said quickly, urging her to carry on.

Vi nodded "He used us to test them out. They were weird, they kinda made you feel like a different person, they'd strap you down, inject this weird neon shit into you, and then just kinda try stuff." Cherie closed her eyes painfully, she wished she could go back, and change things. "I don't know how long we were there, I'd say a year at least. I tried to get us out, I really did, I had a plan and everything I just - she got there first."

"I'm sorry sweetheart." Cherie whispered.

"It's not your fault." Vi said. "After that we joined a gang, there were seven of us to start with but it grew over time. We used to steal stuff, to get by, it was only people that wouldn't miss things though and it started small. We just just took what we needed, but it got kinda twisted, it was like a hit back at the system that fucked us in the ass. We got braver, greedier. Some people would probably say that we deserved what happened." She said. She looked down at the happy baby as she spoke.

"I was 16 I think but I looked older, so I spent a lot of time at the bar by the lanes, drinking, getting into fights. I made Jessa stay back at camp, she'd always get me kicked out." She chuckled.

"I overheard some rich guys conversation about a mine payment that was due. It was perfect, a small fortune to us, small change to those guys. I planned it out, but with only seven of us, it would never be enough. I let a rival gang in on the plan, huge fucking mistake." She said venomously.

"There was too many of us, and those guys went too hard, the mine collapsed between us all. Jessa got the worst of it, I told her to stay at the back, I didn't want her getting hurt... But when the ceiling caved in, she was gone and she wasn't the only one. I got the rest of them out." Vi said quietly, usually talking about it would make her itch with guilt, but maybe it was the baby on her lap that took that feeling away. A symbol of innocence, the child would have been raised in unwarranted poverty if it wasn't for Cherie, and that wasn't any reflection of the baby, she couldn't help the situation she was born into any more than Vi could have. rie nodded.

"She was still a kid and I just left her body there."

"You didn't have a choice. You got the others out, and that's what counts here." Cherie said, her hands wrapped tightly around her cup. Vi nodded, taking a sip of the now lukewarm tea, she didn't know why she agreed to a cup, but the warmth was somewhat comforting right now.

She heard what Cherie said, and it refreshed her, that for once she agreed. It wasn't her fault. At the time she didn't handle the aftermath well, she drank herself to sleep most nights, she went home with an alarming amount of different people, and when things got really dark she hurt herself. She was so angry and frustrated with her own choices that she just let herself self-destruct, in any way she could.

Laszlo watched her over the weeks, he saw the scars across her arms increasing each time they met, he watched her stumble out of his bar door with a new lover every night. That's where he stepped in, he offered her a job, and let her stay on his couch. He kept training her to fight, to channel all of her frustrations into the punchbag in his basement, and eventually it worked. After a couple of years she seemed to calm down a bit, she stopped trying to fight everyone, only beating up the guys who deserved it, and she started helping the victims of gang attacks in Zaun. She still had an uncomfortable relationship with casual sex, but decided she would at least restrict herself to the one gender, so Laszlo counted his blessings.

"You're making a difference Vi. You took the shit that life gave you and polished it to a diamond, be proud now." Cherie said lovingly.

"Says you, six kids huh? Must be crazy." She said with a grin. Kids were not something she had ever seen in her future. Growing up as an orphan she vowed never to bring a child into a world that didn't want it to be there. But then again, she never imagined she would have as much control over her path as she did now.

"Honestly Vi, none of them are as badly behaved as you two were!" She said with a giggle.

"Aw man I'm sorry." She said biting her lip.

"It was worth it to see you now." Cherie said smiling gently. They continued chatting and catching up for a couple of hours, and when they parted with a long hug, Cherie told her not to be a stranger. Vi was happy with that, she felt warm as she walked to the station in the bitter winter winds.

Something she didn't expect, was to return to an empty office. Caitlyn had gone, and when Vi asked around the wardens as to where she was, she was told a building on Letana Street had exploded.

Letana Street was where she lived.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My gf read through this chapter and asked a very valid question: What was in Vi's breakfast bag? I vote gummy bears. What do you guys think? xD


	15. XV

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nsfw warniiingg

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> O my god, I’ve been writing this for DAYS -
> 
> I really hope you like it, I’m ngl it was kinda personal to write bc ya girl’s got a bit of trauma so im kinna relating to Cait here

Vi stood there, opened mouthed, Caitlyn had just told her what happened. Her flat was gone, blown to smithereens, and if she was in it, she would have been too. She didn’t have a clue how to react, she was used to moving homes, she’d never really had a permanent residency, but on the other hand, she was starting to like it there. 

“I’m sorry Vi.” She said, her jaw was tense. “You can stay with me until we get things sorted.” 

Vi nodded. Caitlyn pulled the keys from her coat and handed them to Vi. 

“You go back and get settled.” That meant she wasn’t coming home again, it was already getting dark. Vi wasn’t in the mood for sleeping right now though. 

“Nah, this little bitch wants my attention so she can fucking have it. I’m coming with you.” She said, storming past Caitlyn towards the precinct. 

Caitlyn stared at Vi who quickly strutted away, she paused for a moment and then followed behind. Vi turned back and realised Caitlyn hadn’t followed her so ended up awkwardly waiting for her anyway. 

“Sorry.” Vi said, scratching the back of her head. “She’s irked me.” 

“I can tell.” Caitlyn said with a tired smile. They took a normal pace walk back to the Piltover Police Department, maintaining the silence between them. 

Within two hours of Vi aggressively catching up on the additional paperwork, she had fallen asleep against the desk and was drooling on the half completed form. Caitlyn looked at her and shook her head, a slow smile forming on her lips as she took notes on another witness report. She had reread them over and over and over, and there was still nothing that popped out at her. The only key features they had that kept recurring in each case was the ‘X’ left at every scene. She leant back in the chair and clicked her spine, letting out a deep sigh. Her eyes drifted to the empty teacup next to her.  _ Should I make another? _ She thought, wondering if the caffeine would give her a boost or take her down even more. 

“Ugh.” She said quietly, rubbing her temples. She looked at the pocket watch on the side of the desk, it was her grandfather's once, hers now. She clicked it open and blurrily glared at the time, ten. Late.  _ Wait. _ She thought, looking back at the numerals on the clock face. X. X is the roman numeral for ten, just like VI is the numeral for six.  _ Are they related somehow? _

She pinched the bridge of her nose, leaning her elbows on the desk in defeat.  _ You really hanging onto every thread now aren’t you? _ She thought, convincing herself she was just overly tired, and grabbing at straws.

Vi suddenly woke up with a confused snort and wiped the dribble from her mouth. 

“Whoah.” She murmured. Caitlyn just looked on at her, her eyebrows slightly raised as she noticed the ink smudge on her cheek. 

“Let’s go home.” She said, exhaustion wearing into her voice. 

***

Vi laid on the sofa staring at the ceiling, she had a blanket over her feet and a big fluffy pillow under her head. She was comfortable enough, but there was no way she was getting to sleep tonight.

She reluctantly lugged herself up, pulled out a cigarette from her backpack and opened the back door, stepping out into the cold outside. Her face lit up with a fierce warm orange as she flamed the end of the cigarette, sheltering it from the wind with her other hand. Taking a long drag she leant against the wall, staring up into the night sky as she blew the smoke from her mouth.

As she put the cigarette back to her lips a shadow appeared in front of her and stretched across the patio tiling, she looked back, Caitlyn was standing in the doorway. 

“You couldn't sleep either?” Vi asked. 

“Of course not.” She said slowly walking over to Vi. Vi blew the smoke away from Caitlyn, who smirked in response. She slyly stepped in front of Vi and reached for the cigarette between her fingertips. The enforcer looked at her, confused, she didn’t put Caitlyn down as a smoker, she actually thought it kinda pissed her off when she did it.

Caitlyn maintained her smirk as she slowly took a drag, knowing how easy it was to toy with the girl in staring back at her. Her eyes were locked with hers as the tendrils of smoke sauntered from her slightly parted lips.

“What?” She said, her voice taunting Vi as she took another drag. She closed her eyes as she inhaled this time, she paused, an impulse flew through her mind. Her fingertips angled Vi’s jaw upwards as she pressed her lips between Vi’s, encouraging them to part. She slowly exhaled the smoke between Vi’s lips, the enforcer breathed it in, whether it was out of surprise or instinctive reactions.

“Fuck.” She whispered breathlessly. Caitlyn laughed, her voice smooth and somewhat mysterious. 

“Sorry, I couldn’t help myself.” She said with a flash of her teeth. 

“I guess the sleep deprivation is really getting you huh?” Vi said, propping her foot against the wall as she leant back. 

“Maybe...We never got the chance to talk.” She said, leaning next to her as she handed back the cigarette. 

“We didn’t.” Vi repeated. “Though I didn’t think we needed to. You were pretty clear tellin me where I stood the first time.” She said, finishing off her cigarette and throwing it on the floor next to her. Caitlyn bit her lip and looked at the floor, she wasn’t one to go back on her word, but things changed. Vi was an exception.

“Vi, if you were in that flat, at 5:48pm you wouldn’t be here right now.” She said, her voice giving away more emotion than it usually did. “You were right, when you said I let my work get the better of me. If I lost you today, I would have spent a lifetime regretting not doing this.” 

“What?” Vi said, before being cut off by Caitlyn’s lips. It wasn’t like the kiss before, Vi felt the meaning through it, this was Caitlyn giving herself to Vi, her trust, her desires, her responsibilities and fears, they all belonged to Vi now, and she would take them,  _ so  _ gladly. 

When they parted to breathe, the need was there in both of their eyes, they were hypnotised by each other in that moment, and every step they took up towards Caitlyn’s bedroom blurred behind them. 

Caitlyn pushed Vi down onto the bed and before Vi could find the words to speak the sheriffs thighs were on either side of her hips, her lips drinking up the thoughts in her head. 

The enforcer's hands instinctively went to the girl in her lap’s waist, her mind still intoxicated by the kiss, she was lost, confused by her own whirlwind thoughts. 

She wasn’t shy when it came to sex, it wasn’t like it was new to her, to come this close to someone’s body, to feel the warmth and the contours of their skin against hers. But this was Cait. When they first met she never thought the woman would even crack a smile at her let alone let her touch her like  _ this _ .

She wouldn’t have admitted it to anyone, but a part of her was scared, nervous. She cared about the sheriff, way more than she ever intended too, and when she thought about it properly, she had never really been intimate with anyone she gave a shit about. She usually let her body do the work, and kept her mind out of it, but with her, she wanted to be present. More than ever.

The palm that pressed firmly against the small of Caitlyn’s back gave her the security she needed, knowing she could rely on the strength of her partner to hold her up. So for the first time, the sheriff, who prided herself on her authority and control, let herself go. Into the capable hands of her enforcer.

To Vi the weight of Caitlyn in her lap was nothing, compared to the weight of the anticipation in her stomach. Vi kissed her slower and more thoughtfully than she’d kissed any other before, and if she could have slowed time to extend each second she would have. 

Her hands instinctively placed themselves on the top of Caitlyn's thighs, her skin hot to touch, a quick contrast to her cold hands. 

Without thinking about it her hands slowly drifted upwards, they slid just underneath the silky shorts that lightly dressed her hips. Caitlyn took a sharp intake of breath as the cool hands brushed the edge of her hips, it was sensitive, an area usually clothed and covered up. Her heart jittered with the rush of excitement she felt as the rough fingers graze across her skin, an invasion of touch, that she silently welcomed. 

Caitlyn leant closer towards Vi, she held a fingertip against her chin and tilted her head sideways, still following the same tender rhythm along her jawline. Vi's eyes closed softly as her lips reached the sensitive spot between her jaw and her ear. Caitlyn nipped the skin underneath her mouth gently, quietly acknowledging the tattoo ink permanently etched into Vi's neck. The heat of the blood beneath her skin intensified that oh so familiar scent.

Caitlyn recognised the smell of her partner on a day to day basis, a little too much than she cared to admit. She would leave for meetings with a smile on her face as she walked past Vi`s coat breathing in deeply as she walked. She smelt like smoke and violets to her, floral but not how you'd expect. She wasn't feminine, but at the same time, she could be, it was a choice to her. Vi was similar to the feeling you get, when you see a perfect flower, blooming proudly between the cracks in the dirty concrete floor beneath your feet. 

Mapping out her partner's neck with her lips, meant she had barely noticed the movement of Vi, whose hands slid easily over the fabric of the loose camisole that hung from Cait’s shoulders. Her thumbs were nearing the top of her ribs when Caitlyn closed her eyes, her lips were parted slightly, as if she wanted to say something but couldn’t find the focus to do so. 

"You don't have to be gentle with me Vi." She forced out in a whisper, a careful choice of wording.

Vi’s heart sped up, it had crossed her mind. A fear that Caitlyn would be scared, of her, of  _ this _ . The last thing she wanted was to break the trust that they had so she was relieved when Caitlyn had addressed the elephant in the room, reassuring her to carry on as normal.

The truth is, Caitlyn had expected to feel scared, to be plagued with images of  _ his  _ face the moment anyone touched her, but it didn’t happen that way. If anything, it only amplified her desire. Caitlyn wanted Vi to touch her, the way she would touch any other girl she took home, if she tiptoed around her body like a bear-trap ready to snap shut then that meant  _ he  _ was still in control and that was the last thing she wanted.

But what Caitlyn didn’t quite realise, was the fact that Vi couldn’t touch her like anyone other lover she had lured to the bedroom, simply because she had never felt so much towards anyone else before.

With the reassurance of Caitlyn at the front of her mind, she pulled her back, kissing her harder this time, so she understood her response. She bit her lip and felt Caitlyn’s thighs tense, gripping her harder. She pulled back, to see the lustful smirk that played on Caitlyn’s lips as her fingertips stroked the prominent shape of her breasts through the thin satin.

"If I knew how hot you looked in pyjamas, I would have blown up my  _ own _ house." Vi said grinning.

Caitlyn chuckled her voice making Vi's skin tingle slightly. 

"I like the feeling of silk against my skin." She whispered, she wasn't lying, Caitlyn was definitely guilty of taking advantage of her wealth when it came to fabrics and how they felt against her touch. 

"Spoilt little rich girl aren't you." Vi said teasingly, she took one of Caitlyn's nipples between her fingers making her gasp. 

"We both know that's secretly what you love about me." She said, composing herself enough to speak clearly. 

What Caitlyn said was in jest, but it certainly wasn't wrong. On that fine day that Laszlo and their friends coerced her into asking the infamous sheriff for a date, she saw her as a challenge. Piltoverians rarely spared a glance at zaunites, and if they did it would be to spit on them in disgust for their existence. The split of Piltover and Zaun had caused many conflicts and the poverty in Zaun increased as the wealth of Piltover grew all the more. As you can imagine, the differences between the two places were strong, and any zaunite would have a natural hatred towards anything Piltover, and that's just how things were. 

Vi could have never admitted to anyone how much she daydreamed about the lavishness of the streets above them. She would sit atop the bridges in Piltover - knowing how vulnerable she was - and watch as the piltoverians strolled past, clothed in the finest of fabrics with exotic colours and textures beyond her imagination. 

Softness was foreign to Zaun, to Vi, until she found Caitlyn. The height of beauty and serenity, and yet an impossible air of knowing exactly how to be humble and modest. She wasn't judgemental, she saw the worst of people and even then she would seek a reason for their mistakes instead of blaming them. She changed everything for Vi, the moment she gave her a chance.

Caitlyn reached for the hem of her top, and pulled it off over her head. She paused, letting her arms fall to her own thighs, her eyes remained down, nerves getting the better of her. She bit her lip as she braved a glance at Vi, who smiled as if she knew what Caitlyn was thinking. Vi wasn’t used to bodies that were this clean and flawless. There was just one scar on her waist,  _ hell even that was perfect _ , she thought. She outlined it gently with her thumb, Caitlyn shivered. 

“What happened here?” Vi asked, curiously. Caityn looked down at herself. 

“I took a dose of my own medicine.” She said, smirking. Vi shook her head smiling, of course she had taken a bullet and walked away scott free. Caitlyn looked down at herself again, suddenly aware of how naked she was, she blinked as Vi tilted her chin, encouraging her to look back at her. “You’re so fucking perfect.” She said, the colorful language coming to play. Usually Cait would scold her for that, but right now, it was the sheer brash confidence of Vi that had her heart going strong.

She settled her hands on Vi’s shoulders but as her half lidded eyes caught her partners she needed to gratify herself, her fingertips drifted softly along her neck, and tangled into the back of her pink mess of hair, something she had wanted to do for a long time.

Caitlyn waivered slightly in her balance, the intoxication of her own excitement was a lot to take. Vi noticed and let her right hand take its hold against the crook of her back, pulling her into her torso. She gasped as her bare chest brushed the fabric of Vi’s t-shirt, earning a grin from the enforcer. As Caitlyn's body leaned into her, she realised she had the perfect angle to return a past favour, she pressed her lips against the warmth of Caitlyn’s neck, leaving a trail of cooling kisses down to her collarbone. As she neared the sensitive skin of her nipple she heard a quiet murmur from the sheriff, the murmur turned into a moan as Vi took her hardening bud between her lips. The build up of desire was starting to take over her mind, so she let go, letting her body takeover as she rocked her hips into Vi’s. 

Vi laughed menacingly, she didn't expect Caitlyn to be as responsive as this and it spurred her on more than anything. She slid a single finger from Cait's sternum and all the way down past her navel, her body tensed as she felt Vi extend the trail further down between her thighs.  The  enforcer could feel the heat under her fingertips even with the clothing in the way. 

She flashed a smile at Caitlyn and before she could question it Vi had gripped her hips and flipped her over so she was laying on top of her. Caitlyn gasped at the force of the weight between her thighs, but quickly had her attention stolen by the finger that teased its way along the hem of her shorts. 

"May I?" Vi said, her breath against Caitlyn's neck. 

"Please." She begged breathily. Vi smirked and pushed herself back up, she slowly pulled Caitlyn's shorts down, along her thighs and over her feet revealing the black lace that sat patiently underneath. She dragged a thumb across the intricate patterns of lace that barely separated her from what she desired, pulling a shaky breath from Caitlyn. 

“Vi.” she said quietly. “I don’t know what I’m doing.” 

“What do you mean?” Vi asked, taking hold of her hand. Caitlyn propped herself up on her elbows. 

“I’ve never been with a woman.” She said. 

Vi smiled, she knew that. She took Cait’s hand and turned it over, she delicately traced circles in the center of her palm. “Let me ask you a question babe.” She said, still stroking Caitlyn’s palm, she looked up into the big blue eyes that stared back at her. “When you come back, from a stressful day of work, do you slip into your bedsheets at night and touch yourself?” She asked, keeping the eye contact flowing between them. Caitlyn blushed. Hard. That answered Vi’s question. She grinned and closed Caitlyn’s hand into a fist. “You know how to be with a woman. You are one.” Those words melted away her worries like butter thrown to the flames of a new-found confidence. She internally thanked Vi for that.

“Seems a little unfair don’t you think.” Caitlyn said, after a quiet pause. She gently fiddled with the fabric of Vi’s t-shirt sleeve, looking down at her almost naked form. Vi grinned accepting the challenge. 

“Very sorry Sheriff.” She said as she pulled the old band t-shirt over her head. Caitlyn smiled, her eyes were following each of the tattoos she’d never seen before. Tattoos weren’t something that Caitlyn would ever consider herself, but they suited Vi, they told her story.

Cait took a slow inhale as she basked in the sight of her half naked enforcer. The side lamp behind Vi perfectly outlined the frame of her sturdy shoulders, she couldn’t help but note the definition of her muscles, they had definitely developed more since she had joined the wardens. Vi raised her eyebrows as their sights crossed, clearly impressed at Cait’s not so subtle ‘checking out’. The sheriff rolled her eyes and reached for the enforcer, pulling her back on top of her impatiently.

Vi had deliberately angled herself so that their thighs alternated, meaning she could apply the tiniest bit of pressure between Cait’s legs and drive her insane. Caitlyn responded quickly, adjusting the angle of her hips to reach optimum contact, she clenched her jaw receiving the contact she desperately yearned for. When she realised Vi had given her the same power back she lifted her own leg slightly, Vi growled in response, naively thinking Cait wouldn’t realise she could reciprocate. Vi tensed slightly as she felt Caitlyn’s deft fingers trace the swirls of one of her tattoo’s.  _ I can be a tease too. _ She thought, as she moved on to trace another, this one followed up through her sternum and across the top of her chest. Vi shivered at the sensation. Caitlyn laughed, the same as the way she did when she had started this, with the cigarette. 

“The big bad Vi, who would have thought she’d be  _ so  _ easily hypnotised.” Caitlyn said, mocking her slightly.

“Oh you wanna play  _ that _ game?” She said, snaking her hand between their bodies and stroking the black lace underwear with a little more pressure than before. Vi laughed as she watched the look on Caits face develop from a cocky smile to pure mindless pleasure, what tripled the heat between her own thighs was the little whine that slipped from the sheriffs lips as she stopped. Vi leant back and gave the flustered girl a look, her eyebrows raised, still challenging the reclined mess that lay in front of her. 

“Vi please.” She said, her voice replicating her usual authoritative tone. She pouted slightly, not that she’d admit quiet how desperate she was getting. Vi simply raised one eyebrow and stayed still, just looking back at her partner frustrating her further. Caitlyn rolled her eyes, Vi was stubborn too and she knew that. 

“You can hardly try to be the sheriff now.” She said gesturing to her naked body, her hair was in a mess surrounding her flushed cheeks. “Look at you.” She said, looking at her hungrily. A heavy breath waved through Caitlyn’s body as the enforcer drank in the sight of her, she raised her hips slightly. She was relishing in the idea of Vi being in control, but Vi had to be, she knew how this went, and she knew what Caitlyn needed, probably more than she herself did.

“Show me.” Vi said plainly, leaving Caitlyn with a confused look in her eyes. “I want you to show me how much you want it.” She said, an element of coolness to her voice. Most people would be too embarrassed to form the words, but Vi was raw and honest. Straight to the point as always. 

Caitlyn took a deep breath, processing what Vi meant exactly, there was only really one way. She lifted her legs from either side of Vi and raised her hips, shimmying off the thin underwear that just about covered her modesty. She flung them on the floor next to them and laid there for a second before taking her middle finger and index finger and stroking herself, slightly parting her legs so that Vi could watch her. She kept her eyes on the enforcer, so that if she looked back at her, she would know that she was loving  _ every _ second of it. 

Vi really was hypnotised, she watched as those perfectly manicured fingertips dipped between wet folds, spreading the gloss that coated them further. She was incredibly wet, and of course, Vi expected no less.

She’d had dreams about the infamous sheriff of Piltover lustfully touching herself in front of her, but she did not expect it to happen. Nor did she expect to have fallen for the same woman, this wasn’t her usual method. It was beautiful, to see a woman usually so prim and proper, lose herself in a daze of heat and desire, especially at the hands of her own self.

Caitlyn would have never thought she would feel confident enough, to pull a move like this, but Vi had enticed it out of her, she felt more like herself, when she was with Vi. 

“Show me your fingers.” Vi said. Caitlyn slowly offered her hand out towards Vi, who took hold of her hand. Her fingers were indeed coated, it made her thirst even more for what was to come. She smiled as she leant in closer and gently dragged her thumb over the glistening lips before her, the smell of arousal intoxicating her entirely. Teasing Caitlyn was fun, almost a slight payback for the previous rejections, she aimed to make her as wet and desperate as possible, that way she wouldn’t have any inhibitions left. 

She looked down into the wet slit beneath her as she gently spread her open, making her gasp. It encouraged a thin sheen of sweat to form across her skin, the idea of being so exposed and at her entire dismissal, which ironically was turning her on more than she would have imagined. 

The enforcer adjusted her position, pulling herself down the bed further and laying on her stomach between her thighs. Caitlyn felt the breath between her legs, she ached for satisfaction and thrust her hips forwards, begging for contact. Vi laughed and deliberately set herself further back, earning a glare from the sheriff. 

“What do we say?” Vi said, mocking Caitlyn’s accent. She continued to glare at her through her heavy eyelashes, looking most unimpressed. 

“Please.” She said impatience embracing the tone of her voice. Vi smiled sweetly, clearly loving her new power over her superior. 

She moved herself closer and slowly let the tip of her tongue glide across the folds before her, she felt Cait’s thighs tense on either side of her shoulders. Caitlyn couldn’t help the unkempt sounds that left her mouth, she didn’t think she would be capable of sounding so…  _ slutty.  _ She couldn’t help thinking that here was no way that Vi - her brash and violent enforcer - could be this gentle  _ and _ soft with that sharp mouth of hers, but she was. She really was. 

Vi gladly lapped up the arousal that dripped from her, grateful to finally know what _she_ tasted like. _Unforgettable_ _Perfection_. She thought. She slowly used her fingers to spread her, opening her up to even more of the wild sensations that came from Vi’s tongue. 

“Fuuck!” She said loudly. 

“Your language is  _ appalling  _ tonight Sheriff.” She said looking up at her with a slick smirk. Caitlyn looked down at the woman smirking between her thighs, her lips glistened with the slickness of her own arousal. She dropped her head back with a groan, she couldn’t watch the cocky enforcer, as sexy as she looked between her thighs. She couldn’t give her the satisfaction. 

Vi chuckled as she watched the sheriff collapse back down, she was too weak to fight back with her jokes anymore, there was only one thing on her mind. So Vi obliged.

Using her fingers to expose her clit she allowed herself more precision. She used her lips this time, kissing her clit, sucking as gently as she could. The moans from her partner got more frequent in response to her moves. Vi was quickly learning what made her tick, and using it to her own advantage. 

She headed down more and teased her entrance with the tip of her tongue, seeing first hand how wet she really was. Vi revelled in her moans, they got louder, and more high pitched with each stroke of her tongue. If it were the enforcer’s choice, she would have kept going for all eternity, drinking up the juices of her Sheriff, but Caitlyn couldn’t control herself any more. Her body got more out of control as Vi kept doing  _ everything _ she needed, and before she could stop herself, her body became more and more rigid. She threaded her fingertips through Vi’s mess of pink hair as her legs began uncontrollably shaking, Vi quickly got the message and plunged her tongue deeper into Caitlyn’s pussy. The sound that left her mouth was primal, she screamed with no control of her own voice. Her thighs clamped shut, but Vi kept going until the sounds of her panting slowed and the grip on her hair loosened slightly. She was determined to let her ride the orgasm out for as long as possible. 

When she was sure Caitlyn was done, she lightly kissed the inner thigh that was now next to her cheek, got up and wiped her mouth on the back of her hand. 

She laid down next to Caitlyn, who’s hand was gripped onto the bedpost behind her. Her eyes were closed. 

“Are you okay?” She said, genuinely worried that now she had finished she might change her mind or feel bad about it. She nodded, and opened her eyes, her hair was plastered to the sheen of sweat across her face. 

“I-I want more.” She whispered. There it was, Caitlyn thought, that stupid cocky smirk.

Vi wasn’t surprised the sheriff had a hint of insatiability to her name, it excited her even further. 

“One touch of the infamous Vi and you already want more. Can’t say I blame you.” She said, the classic Vi grin returning. 

“It’s  _ ironic _ how cocky you are.” Caitlyn said. Vi sniggered at that. She pulled the sheriff closer, and wrapped a hand around her waist, pulling her closer so that their lips could meet again. 

As they kissed Caitlyn could taste her own juices, the thought of it made her blush, increasing the heat between her legs once more. Vi’s hand lightly brushed across her ass and travelled along her thigh. She stopped at the back of her knee and with two fingers she lightly pulled up her thigh so that it rested on Vi’s hip.

Their tongues fought in a silent battle, Vi was satisfied with her plan, she had made herself a way in, without Caitlyn even realising. She slid her hand down between Caitlyn’s thighs, easily sliding two fingers into her entrance. Caitlyn gasped into the kiss, hitching her leg further up to give her more access. 

Vi felt how tight the sheriffs cunt was as it warmly engulfed her fingers. She loved the hands on part of sex, she loved using her hands full stop. Vi worked with her hands on a daily basis, she had always appreciated handiwork, whether it was climbing up the ancient piltoverian structures as a child, or helping lazslo work on the mechanics of his car. The gauntlets to her were different, yes they were her, and her hands were doing the work, but she couldn’t feel anything through them, and that’s what she loved, the feeling. That's why she loved women, with just the movement of her forefingers she could have them completely at her mercy. She didn’t need them to touch her back, it was the control that it gave her, that's what truly gratified the enforcer.

She pushed her digits inside further, up to her roughly grazed knuckles. 

“Ughh!” Caitlyn moaned, she moved her hand up to her and entangled her fingers into her mess of raven hair. Vi curled her fingers, up into her g-spot, her moans began to get louder again, her pussy gripped tightly onto her Vi’s fingers with each thrust, much to her delight. 

She listened to the breaths and how they responded to her touch, acknowledging the spots that got her writhing and moaning like the Howler of Zaun.

Caitlyn had lost herself again, all she could think about was the intense feeling building up inside her, every time those expert fingers curled against her walls she got closer and closer. They were closer this time, Vi was just inches away from her face, so Vi got to watch her as her face lulled back into lightheaded pleasure. Her head tilted into the pillow as the feeling wracked through her body, Vi took it as an opportunity and went back to her neck, sucking and nipping gently on her lightly perfumed skin. She moaned as the enforcer regrettably left her a little mark.  _ I’ll pay for that one tomorrow.  _ She thought. 

“Vi…” She said breathily. “Harder.” 

Who was she to deny such a delectable request. She thought, one side of her mouth curling upwards. Within a few quick hard thrusts Caitlyn reached the release she needed, every nerve ending in her body felt like electricity, and the pressure between her thighs was too much to handle. Again Vi kept up her method, even as the grip on her fingers threatened to push them out entirely, she kept going. The scream that Caitlyn let out was twice as loud as the last as she came viciously against Vi’s hand, the fluids that left her splashing the bed slightly. Her body weakened as she came down from her high, her eyelids heavy as ever. 

“By the grey lady…” She whispered, her voice a little hoarse from its overuse. Vi gently lifted Cait’s leg off of herself, brushed the raven hair out of her face and kissed her on the forehead. 

“You’re still good? I didn’t hurt you?” Vi asked, concern lining her voice. 

“Vi, I’m fine. But thank you.” She said, smiling. She leant in and pecked her on the lips lovingly. Vi couldn’t understand why after everything that had just happened,  _ that _ had made her blush. 

“Do you think you’ll be able to sleep now?” Vi said with a dumb grin. 

“But what about you?” Caitlyn said, her eyebrows furrowed. 

“Trust me, I get as much as you do out of this from just watching you c-” 

“Okay!” Caitlyn said, the heat rushing back to her cheeks, why was she embarrassed now? She thought to herself. Her eyelids were so heavy now, she really was struggling to stay awake. Vi chuckled quietly as she watched Caitlyn try not to drift to sleep. 

“You need to sleep Cait. I’ll see you in the morning?” She said as she was about to get up from the bed and slump down the stairs. 

“Vi, you can sleep in my bed you idiot.” She said pulling back the slightly damp covers. Vi murmured a quick ‘Oh’ and slipped underneath the covers with her. Caitlyn herself enveloped herself in the sheets underneath herself, she turned to face the window, still feeling the sensitivity between her thighs. 

“Come here.” Caitlyn whispered. Vi obliged and edged herself closer to Caitlyn, she was taller than her, so when she wrapped her arms around her waist and pulled her in the Sheriff couldn’t have felt safer. 

“Vi.” She said, her voice a little more audible than before.

“What’s up?” The enforcer replied sleepily.

“Smoking is a terrible habit. You should really stop.” She said, a smirk on her lips.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Vi looks at camera*
> 
> GOD I LOVE BEING GAYSFS7VQ


	16. XVI

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The morning after

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hiii omg v sorry, that last chapter burnt me OUT and I've been struggling to write the next chunks! I had some amazing reviews that urged me on so thank you SO MUCH

Caitlyn woke up as soon as the sun came up, her body was like clockwork by now, as soon as the light slipped between the curtains she was awake. She yawned, they could only have got around three hours sleep last night. It was worth it. She thought, a soft smile forming on her lips. She sat up and swung her legs over the side of the bed, rubbing her eyes gently. There was a quiet snore from the enforcer, who laid semi-naked, diagonal and half wrapped in blankets across the mattress. 

She decided to let her sleep more, she was somewhat angelic laying there, not talking. She thought, a smirk on her lips as she ran a brush through her tangled hair. 

She took a risky glance in the mirror, hoping it wasn’t too obvious she’d only gotten a couple of hours in. It was. The dark circles were definitely prominent. Today is a concealer day. She thought, sweeping the make up under her eyes. She didn’t usually bother with make up, only for occasions, and days where she looked and felt like this. 

She finished brushing her hair and swept it up, ready to pull it into a ponytail, only then did she notice the mark on her neck. Her cheeks grew hot and she shivered at the idea of those lips once again biting into her skin. 

She turned to look at it in the light a little more, with the slight hint of worry that was . If someone saw... it would look incredibly irresponsible on her part. 

She shook her head dismissing the idea quickly, it was just a mark, there was no evidence as to who left it. She put a little concealer on and brushed her hair downwards so that it was covered.

As she went to the wardrobe to get clean clothes she caught a glimpse of her body in the mirror, she smiled realising the parallels of the two very different memories, for the first time she saw herself through her own eyes, she turned slightly admiring the smooth curves of her own frame. This was something she had never been able to do before, she was used to tactically avoiding herself naked, in fear that the cuts and bruises Darian had left across her skin would reappear. It haunted her, until she saw herself through Vi’s eyes. 

Caitlyn dressed herself and left for the precinct, leaving a warm curled up Vi who was none the wiser to the gap next to her. 

She did feel a little guilty, Vi would probably assume she’d done something wrong, but she really didn’t have the time to enjoy a lazy morning in bed. The pressure was burning against her, to identify their mystery hellion.

*** 

Vi awoke quickly, the alarm rang shrill in her ears, she leant over the bed and slapped the button to stop it. Silence. She flopped back down across Caitlyn’s side of the bed. Her eyes sprung open suddenly remembering where she was. The soft sheets still smelt like her. Did she leave because she was upset? No. She’s not the type to run away from confrontation. She said to herself. She sat up and grinned shaking her head slowly, the cocky smile spread across her face as she thought about the noises she’d had the Sheriff making. Caitlyn would be at work already, no doubt. She must have set an alarm for Vi so that she knew when to come in. 

Caitlyn lived closer than Vi, the walk was quicker than usual, but that didn’t change how long it felt. She quickly realised that the nerves in her stomach were multiplying as she took each step, how was she supposed to act around her now? How would Caitlyn act with her? Professional. She suspected.

Vi paused for a moment, her hand on the doorknob. She entered. “Sheriff.” She said, trying to sound as normal as she could. 

Caitlyn’s eyes remained on the papers before her, a smirk appeared across her lips. She wondered how long Vi would keep the act up. “Morning Vi.” She said, an element of entertainment to her voice. Vi stood still, unsure of where to put herself. “Must I Invite you to sit down? Is that the level of formality we reside on after last night? I would have thought not.” She said, a hint of a smile to her lips. 

“I - wasn’t sure how you would want me to… act.” She said awkwardly looking at her feet. 

“There should be no acting involved. We simply carry on.”

“Okay..” She said quietly biting her lip. Caitlyn looked up at her, Vi looked a little lost. The sheriff stood up and smoothed her skirt down, with a few graceful strides she had locked her office door. Vi’s eyes followed her suspiciously as she approached her. Caityn gently kissed her on the lips, wrapping her arms around her solid shoulders. 

“Does that help darling?” She said pulling back to look at the zaunite.

“So are we like dating now or what?” She said furrowing her eyebrows, usually accustomed to a one night stand. 

“Would you like to be?” She asked. 

"Yeah." Vi said, avoiding eye contact.

"Good." Caitlyn said in a whisper. She quickly placed a kiss on Vi's cheek and turned to unlock the door. 

"We'll talk about the formalities later, I'm afraid we have work to do." She said, handing a composite drawing to Vi. Vi stared at the drawing, a girl with a big cheesy grin, blue plaits. Huh. She kinda looks like Jessa, she thought with a frown, wondering what she would have looked like grown up. She attached the picture to the board with a sigh. 

There was a loud knock at the door. Caitlyn quickly unlocked it and pulled it open, there stood one of her officers.

"Ma'am." He said respectfully, trying not to eye the blushing enforcer. 

“Officer Ren.” She said, quickly switching to the professional tone that she usually maintained.

"There was a note posted through the door." He said, handing a note to the Sheriff. She glared down at the paper. The same chaotic writing, this was her. 

"When?" She demanded. He raised his eyebrows.

"What do you mean Sheriff?" he said. 

She shook her head quickly, and strutted out into the corridor. Her footsteps heavily tapped against the hardwood floor. Vi and Officer Ren looked at eachother, both knowing the wrath of Caitlyn was something you would ideally avoid. Vi shrugged and jogged lightly behind, curiously eager to see someone else in trouble that wasn’t herself.

Her footsteps stopped at the entrance to the offices, where the majority of the wardens reside. They were all discussing something, the letter, theories and ideas, but that all stopped as soon as they saw the Sheriff standing tall in front of them. Vi watched in awe, a slight smile on her face as she witnessed the sheer power that Caitlyn had. 

"Would any of you care to tell me, why on earth the most notorious criminal to have ever touched our city, just HAND delivered a note through our door, and NOT ONE OF YOU, thought to go out and see who posted it!" They were still, eyes wide, frozen. “Must I handhold every one of you, or do you in fact possess the initiative to utilise your own minds?” No one dared to respond to the cold stare that bore into them. She impatiently turned on her heel and returned back at herself. “I want at least 10 of you dredging the streets for her within the next five minutes.” She half-shouted as she walked back down the corridor. The officers flew into action, behind her. 

As Vi heard the woman turn back towards her she quickly slid into the administration office, not wanting to be in the midst of the drama. 

“Oh hey, you’re new.” Vi said noticing the man at the desk. 

“Yeah.. First day. Cait was supposed to meet me, seems like she’s got bigger fish to fry…” He said waggling his eyebrows. He was pretty, he had the same dark hair as Caitlyn, very similar blue eyes. Cait?

“You know her?” Vi asked, acknowledging the casual terms he had used. 

“She’s my cousin. My parents told her I needed a real job. “he said rolling his eyes “So she gracefully offered me this.” He had the same accent as her, just a little less polished. He seemed to be a similar age , perhaps they were close. 

“Real job?” Vi asked, tilted her head. 

“Oh I’m a performance artist, I prefer entertain in the more.. Unique bars. Who do you think taught the Sheriff how to make herself look STUNNING?” He said with a wink. She grinned, surprised that Caitlyn hadn’t mentioned him before, mind you, they didn’t often talk family members, perhaps she didn’t want to flaunt her big family in front of Vi in case she felt bad. 

“You’ve been quite the topic of conversation in the family I must say... I’ve heard daddy dearest isn’t too keen. His little girl hiring a Zaunite to work with.” He said, grimacing. 

“Something tells me he wouldn’t particularly enjoy anyone working closely with his daughter.” Vi said, side eyeing the door, slightly unsure of what to say given the night before. 

“It’s alright babe. I know what’s going on between you two, I know a queer when I see one - and Caitlyn, well, I always had my suspicions.” He said, studying his blue fingernails. 

“Has she said anything about me?” Vi said, letting her ego get the better of herself. 

“Not outwardly, you know how she is. Could tell though, the way she was talking about you to her mother when she first hired you. She’s had partners before - work partners I mean- she didn’t used to show them off in her personal life though.” He said, pulling out a nail file and aligning it to his index finger. 

“Wait are you… out?” She said lowly, he was comfortable with her of course but she didn’t want to presume. 

“Honey…” He said rhetorically. 

“Hey you can’t blame me, Piltoverians are weird with that kinda thing, n’ goin by how Mr Beaumont was around me…” 

“Mhm. The man’s involved in politics, they’re the worst when it comes to “open-mindedness.” ” He said grimacing. “I am out, and my parents have accepted that, they just don’t like me being too proud about it.” He said gesturing to the brightly coloured fingernails. “Now Eliza on the other hand… an absolute darling. She strikes me as the type who has kissed a girl or two and isn’t afraid to say it.” Vi chuckled, she could see it, easily. Eliza was an amazing person to be around, she would have given anything to have grown up around a mother as warm and welcoming as she. Although, it was unfortunately clear where Caitlyn got most of her personality from, the cold stubborn exterior at least.

“What about you Vi?” He asked curiously. 

“I mean I’ve never not been out. But I don’t have anyone to disapprove of me anyway, hey at least I didn’t get some gross coming-out story.” She shrugged, at least that was one blessing of not having family members. He laughed, trying not to think about the day he had told his parents, he shuddered slightly. 

“I should probably go and see if she’s simmered down shouldn’t I?.” Vi said, biting her lip. She wanted to stay and talk to him, it felt nice being able to talk about her sexuality with someone else. He opened his mouth to say bye and as soon as he did the door flew open, revealing the Sheriff. 

“Vi what- OH Blakely, I’m sorry, a lot has been going on!” He stood up and walked over to her, pulling her into a hug, she was a little stiff, still in Sheriff mode. He pulled away, his hands holding her an arms width apart as he looked at her. 

“Omg darling those eyebags better be designer.” He said theatrically, earning a snigger from Vi. Caitlyn rolled her eyes at him and playfully batted his arm. 

“I need you like a hole in the head.” She said sarcastically. 

“By the looks of all of this -” He said gesturing to the unorganised folders. “You actually do need me, a lot Caitycat.” She glared at him as soon as the childhood nickname fell from his lips. 

“I am still the Sheriff. Cousin or not, you won’t have a job, if you call me that again.” He pressed his lips into a firm line, trying not to laugh as he nodded. She flipped her hair slightly in a stressful sigh, throwing it behind her so it lay against her back. 

“WOW.” Blakely said, immediately thumbing the lovebite above her collarbone. She blushed furiously and turned quickly away from him. He grabbed her shoulders and gave her a gently wiggle as he teased her about it. “Oh come on. I’m glad you’re finally getting a decent shag.” 

“Fuck off Blake!” She hissed quietly, so no one would hear her unprofessionalism. He laughed as he sauntered back to his seat. 

“Nice work.” He said winking at Vi, who had tried to bite her lip to avoid laughing. She glared at the enforcer, the blood full in her cheeks. 

“Lets get back to work.” She said through her teeth shooting daggers at Blakely. “Ria will be arriving, in thirty minutes, she will show you the ropes. I promise I’ll introduce you properly when things aren’t as, up in the air.” She said, her usual tone returning. 

Vi turned and grinned whipping out the finger guns at Blakely as they left. 

“So whos she drawn this time, I love me some fanart!” Vi said rubbing her hands together. 

"This is serious Vi. It wasn't just a note, it was an invite." She said calmly. 

"What?" Vi said, glaring. Who did this girl think she was? When they got back to the sheriffs office Caitlyn immediately showed her the paper. The girl had boldly written her note on the back of one of the posters that the Piltover Police Department had plastered around town, in hopes to receive more witness statements. 

PILTLOSER PRESENTS:

ThE StoRY of The 1 THE onLy 

!!! J I N X !!! 

At 11:30 (PiltLOSER time) MuNdAy the 14th 

their wiLL Be tHe PeRfOrMaNse oF tHe sEnTurY

Pleaze arIvE pRomptlY at ThE DeNoray BaNdStANd 

SnAcKs + WeApOnS ArE NOT peRmiTeD 

FatHaNdeD-dYkE-EnForCeRs + PriNceSS-dAddY-BuYs-me-EveryTHinG SHerif's R WELCUM : ) 

LoTs oF LuV 

JINX 

X 

Vi raised her brows, silently impressed with the ballsy invitation, surely this girl is insane. 

"She really is loving the drama isn't she?" 

"It would seem so." Caitlyn said, sitting behind her desk. She pulled out a magnifying glass from the draw and studied the note. 

"Her writing and spelling alone makes me assume she is lacking an education." She said plainly. 

"Alright easy on the judging." Vi said, getting somewhat defensive. 

"I'm not judging, I'm simply stating. Vi education means nothing, you have one of the finest brains I've come across." She said, still studying the writing. 

"We're going." 

"Are you insane? She it, wants us unarmed. Its a trap Cait, surely you know that." Vi said. Trying not to doubt the Sheriff too much. 

"I do. But we have the time to prepare ourselves." Caitlyn looked up at her through her eyelashes. "If I didn't know you any better Vi, I'd say you were scared." She said, a half smile on her lips. 

"Without those gauntlets, I still have my fists, what do you have without your rifle?" Vi said, wiggling her eyebrows as she challenged the Sheriff. 

"Sharp intellect and excelling perception." 

"Touché." Vi said. 

"We will have back up, dressed as bystanders, a theatrical performance like that is sure to attract a crowd." She said, her voice calm and clear. 

"Want me to go call an emergency meeting?" Vi asked gently. 

"Please." She said quietly. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this is a bit of a baby chapter but its a nice calm before the storm vibe lmao 
> 
> Pls review and stuff thanks byyee


	17. XVII

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jinx or Jessa

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OMfg i have hated writing this chapter and I have no idea why, ive been trying to do it for weeks and weeks lmao xD

“Stick to the plan.” Caitlyn ordered.  
“There isn’t a plan, we aren’t fighting anyone.” Vi scoffed.  
“Precisely. I don’t want to see a fingertip move without an order from me.” She said as she checked her watch. They had five minutes. The undercover officers were planted, already acting as civilians and blending in, just in case she decided to hang around town prior. The loose cannon herself could be undercover too.

Caitlyn had scrawled down every possible scenario she could think of prior to this, planning and plotting their every move. All she could do was hope that one of them was right and that they were all ready for it. 

They stood there, the two of them a few metres away from the bandstand, not too close, not too far. The bandstand was clear except for an empty shipping crate. It wasn’t unusual for a street performer to set up here on the busier days, she could attract a small unknowing crowd which was Caitlyn's biggest concern. They both looked around the bustling square suspiciously, she could be anyone. 

“Maybe it was a setup?” Vi said, cocking an eyebrow towards the Sheriff. She looked back at Vi, her eyes drifted to the aged tattoo on her cheek. Caitlyn had accounted for that particular situation, if it was a trap, and they were being targeted, then her officers would accomodate for that. She opened her mouth to respond but was promptly interrupted by the irritating voice of a young girl. 

“Welcome!” She yelled, her voice shrill and high in pitch. She hopped onto the wooden crate so she stood taller above the slowly growing audience.  
“I thought i’d introduce myself, I’m Jinx!" She said proudly. "Aaand I think your town is PRETTY boring.” She fake yawned. “SO I came here to make it fun! But before I do that, I think we should get better acquainted.” She said mocking the Piltover accent. Caitlyn looked around at the confused bystanders, there a lot more than she'd accounted for. Clearly the rumours of a blue haired villain hadn't spread as far as she'd thought.  
“When I was a kid, I was cast aside by my parents, and left at Hope House orphanage with my big sister.” She said, performing the story herself, throwing her body around the stage.  
Vi gulped, her face turning white as the cogs in her mind whirred into place.  
“We stayed there for a long long LONG time. We never got picked because we weren’t the pretty kids.” She said delicately framing her face with the palms of her hands.  
Vi took a sharp intake of breath and held it. "Jessa." She whispered.  
“After YEARS of waiting came the day of our adoption." She waited for a reaction and pulled a disappointed frown. " Well the guy that took us looked kinda weird and they probably shoulda known he was a creep, but hey off we went to our new home!" There were unsure eyes looking up at her from the audience. "Little did we know, he was a crazy scientist man, and guess what we were?" She paused again. "Yeah that’s right, we were lab-rats! He poked and prodded us until we screamed.” She let out a huge high pitched scream making the crowd jump. She walked to the edge of the stage fiddling with the end of her braid. “So I mean… you really can’t blame me for wanting him dead." 

There were a few gasps from the crowd. Caitlyn exhaled slowly as she pieced together the information. My deputy, is the sister of Piltover’s most infamous criminal. This is going to muster up quite the interview. She thought to herself.  
“After we escaped, me and my sister joined a gang on the streets. We were The Lost Children. Catchy right?" She grinned sweetly, one might think she just had a little screw loose, if only she wasn't a murderer she probably would have been quite a likeable character.  
"So one day, my so-called sister overheard the plans for a huge mining payment that was due to be paid in Northside Ridge. 'It’ll be a small fortune for us' she told me. The only downside was we couldn’t do it alone." She rolled her eyes. ”We roped in a rival gang called the Factorywood Fiends to help. When we got there a huge fight broke out, not that we expected them to just hand over the money, but it would have been nice." Her eyes widened. "The fight was pretty heavy handed, and someone went too hard so by no surprise the ceiling collapsed in completely. And guess who was left under the rubble to DIE!" She said, turning to show a gnarly scar across her back. The bystanders gasped amongst themselves.  
"And my SISTER, my own flesh and blood, left me there!" She screamed looking directly at her sibling. Vi bit her tongue, hard. Don't bite the bait, don't bite the bait.  
"OH! I never introduced you!" She said excitedly. "EVERYONE, meet my sister." She dramatically waggled her fingers at Vi. "Yup, that's right! Your Piltloser Enforcer here, willingly left a seven-year-old to suffocate under a pile o’ rubble, all for the sake of some money.” More gasps followed, a few dared to look at Vi in shock. Caitlyn herself spared a glance to her enforcer, she was practically shaking with rage. Keep it cool darling. She thought, hoping Vi could handle herself.  
Vi snapped her eyes to the Sheriffs for a second, the cool blue of her eyes calmed her instantly, she swallowed her rage and kept to her clenched fists. Wait. She told herself. 

“I know you Piltlosers are stupid, but you’re all something else if ya think FATHANDS over here is gonna protect ya!” She said laughing out and slapping her thigh. Caitlyn felt Vi tensing even further next to her, she needed to act before the enforcer did. She swiftly took a hand mirror from her pocket and held it low beside her hip, she tilted the angle repeatedly, catching the sun. This was the signalling she had agreed on with her officers that now was the time to act.  
They were fast, but so was Jinx, the plan was to surround her and they did, what they didn’t plan for was that the crate that she had stood on wasn't quite as empty as they thought, so with a quick hop down she had access to at least three different guns.  
In a matter of seconds she had sprayed bullets all around her, taking down two of the officers and at least four civillians. Vi looked at Caitlyn for a second before lurching forward for her sister, she threw herself at the tiny girl, taking a bullet or two in the process. She missed and when she looked up from the floor the loose cannon had vanished.  
“FUCK!” Vi shouted, still sitting on the ground, her shoulder was bleeding heavily, she didn’t care, a mixture of frustration and adrenaline angrily slammed through her heart.  
The crowd of bystanders had fled immediately at the response of the spray of bullets, instantly realising the girl as the wanted criminal. Caitlyn flew to Vi’s side, she instinctively pulled the wraps from Vi’s fists and clumped them together, quickly holding it against her bullet wounds to soak up the blood.  
“Vi, look at me. I know this is hard, but I need you to stay present. Hold this to the wound and stay still, I’m going to help the others. Forget about her for now.” Vi nodded slowly, her eyes were in a slight daze as the scene replayed in her head over and over again. Stay present. Forget about her. She repeated to herself as she slowly blacked out. 

Vi woke up in a hospital bed, for a second she was transported back, to when she was 11 years old, strapped across a leather table. She gasped ready to leap from the bed, until she felt a hand gripping her hand.  
"Vi you're okay. You're safe I promise." She said, her voice calm and soothing. Vi exhaled slowly, her eyes still panicked as she saw the IV fluids going into her arm.  
"It’s just a saline drip. I didn’t let them use anything else, just sutures and dressings okay? " She said.  
Vi nodded slowly, still very uncomfortable.  
"I don't remember what happened.." she said, trying hard to think, her head was pounding aggressively.  
Caitlyn sighed and rubbed circles into the enforcers hand, she looked down at the rough grazed knuckles.  
"Jinx is… your sister." She whispered. "She made quite the performance at the bandstand, telling her side of your story." Vi looked at her, her eyebrows glared onwards as she tried hard to concentrate and remember. A grown up Jessa flashed across her mind, she was taller, still skinny but with long bold blue braids.  
"She had her guns hidden, we had no idea. Two civilians and an officer were lost. She got you in the shoulder twice when you launched yourself at her." Caitlyn said nodding towards Vi’s shoulder.  
Vi grimaced. As Caitlyn filled in the gaps, the memories flooded back. Jinx knew exactly what she was doing, drawing attention to Vi like that. It would cause an unruly amount of publicity, which would throw off their focus. She wanted Vi cast aside, discredited from the wardens, completely powerless.  
Caitlyn knew, and she wasn't going to let it happen. She gripped Vi's hand tightly, letting her personal emotions get the better of her.  
"We'll sort this." She said firmly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if its not the best, i just had to yeet it out here! If ya got any suggestions let me know


	18. XVIII

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things in the PPD are getting tense

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wHy HaVe I lOsT aLl My MotiVAtion >:o   
> FR I promise I won't abandon as long as yall are still into it! 
> 
> Also I tattooed Vi on my wrist last night, so at least I have a constant reminder ahahah

Vi approached the Piltover Police Department as she usually did, her shoulder was heavily bandaged up, but healing fast. She slowed as she saw the crowds surrounding the front doors, camera flashes sparked sporadically across the group of people. 

She glared at them blocking her path and walked around them to the front of the crowds. She barged through them, at least three of them turned to her with microphones. 

"Miss Vi, please can you explain why the Piltover Police Department aren't doing anything about our current state of emergency?" Vi glared at them. 

"Miss?" She said, her eyebrow raised in disgusted surprise. There was a clear cough from her right, she looked up to see the Sheriff glaring back at her. Caitlyn shook her head discreetly, Vi immediately understood, and pushed past them to join her. 

"Don't say a word to any of them, they'll only twist it." She whispered as she turned firmly to the crowd carrying her tall posture. 

"An official statement will be released when the time is right. Until then please keep vigilant and use common sense in all situations. Thank you." 

"Come on." She said through gritted teeth. Vi followed her into the building and up towards their office. 

“You ok babe?” Vi asked soothingly. As Caitlyn closed the door behind her she felt the warmth of Vi’s fingertips gently stroking her back. The Sheriff turned to look at her enforcer, she smiled tiredly and let herself drift into the taller woman’s arms. They had only been able to run on small moments like these since that night, it wasn’t the most traditional way of building a relationship but it was enough for them. 

“It’s only 9am and the media are already on top of us. I’ve been awake since five and have had nothing but bloody questions I can’t answer.” She said, pinched the bridge of her nose as she turned away and sat at her chair. 

“We can do this Cait.” Vi said encouragingly, she followed the sheriff to her seat and rubbed her shoulders with capable hands. Caitlyn took a deep breath and sighed, the feeling of the cold hands on her bare skin made her shiver. 

She threw down the pen she was holding and tilted her head to one side, exposing her pale neck to Vi’s line of sight. 

The enforcer grinned and leant down, placing her lips gently on the soft skin before her. The sheriff let out a tiny gasp at the sensation, blushing furiously as she realised where she was. Someone burst in the door at the exact moment Vi had pulled away, her lips still buzzing from the connection. She quickly let go of Caitlyn’s shoulders as she realised they’d been caught. 

“Ma’am..” He said, blushing himself slightly. “The mayor would like to have a word.” He said quickly. 

Caitlyn raised her eyebrows in overreacted surprise, hoping to diffuse the evident embarrassment. “Oh! Of course, thank you.” She said standing up and smoothing down her shirt. The officer left, a cocky smile on his face. 

The mayor entered the room, he was a short stocky man, it was rare to see him out of his seat, so this was a big deal.

“Would you give us a moment please enforcer?” The mayor said politely. Vi looked to Caitlyn, her eyebrows knitted together, expecting Caitlyn to tell him where to stick it. Alas, she nodded, a sympathetic smile formed on her lips as she signalled for Vi to leave. 

“Miss Beaumont, I assume you have been expecting this conversation for a few days now.” He said, patronisingly. Caitlyn tipped an eyebrow at him, keeping her stiff posture aligned with her confidence. “Things in Piltover are becoming somewhat  dire in our current situation . It has come to the point that I myself feel the need to intervene.” He said frowning.

The Mayor was right, Caitlyn had expected this conversation, sooner actually. She knew they had been keeping a swift eye on Vi since she was hired, this was the exact kind of mishap they were hoping to find.

“I can assure you, I am doing everything in my power to control the situation. The girl has been identified, which is a huge step-” 

“She was identified as the sister of your little assistant. Do you realise what that looks like Sheriff?” 

“Vi is my deputy, not my assistant. The girl is related to her indeed, however they haven't seen each other for over a decade. I can guarantee you that my enforcer is neither involved nor responsible for her crimes.” She tried to hide her irritation. 

“You are entirely responsible for what could happen Sheriff. That enforcer of yours and her  _ baggage _ could bring down your career. I would tread very carefully if I were you Caitlyn. Your father is concerned, as am I.” Her fists gripped the arms of the chair, her knuckles turning white. Of course her father had gotten himself involved, he was quite friendly with the mayor when it suited him. 

“Thank you sir, I can assure you we are doing our utmost to protect the city.” She nodded as she stood up and hovered by the open door waiting for him to leave. 

After the mayor had cleared from the corridor Vi stepped back in casually, throwing herself back into her chair, kicking her feet up on the desk. Caitlyn glared at her and she slowly removed her boots. 

“How much did you hear?” She asked. 

“I didn’t hear any of it.” Vi said easily. 

“You look to the left when you lie.” 

Vi bit the inside of her cheek. “All of it?” She said sheepishly. 

Caitlyn sighed and nodded. “It isn’t your fault.” She said leaning back in her chair. 

“It is though, she’s targeting me because I pissed her off.” 

“Vi the mayor pissed me off, I didn’t murder him.” She said, shaking her head. 

Vi sniggered.  _ Ya should have done _ , she thought to herself. 

“As I said, it’s not your fault, but I do need to interview you, we need to know her full background, and you’re our biggest lead.”

Vi bit her lip, she didn’t exactly want to relive the whole thing again, but there was a small part of her that hoped if she told the truth, maybe Jessa wouldn’t be instantly shot on the spot, just maybe they could get her help.

  
  


They decided to carry out the interview at home. Where they could at least be comfortable. When they arrived home Caitlyn showered and pulled a big knitted jumper over her head and a pair of clean black underwear. She sat on the sofa with a notebook and a pen, her hair pulled up into a bun on the top of her head. 

“You do realise how gorgeous you look, don't you?” The enforcer said, handing Caitlyn a steaming cup of tea. Caityn scoffed. 

“Like this?” She scoffed, gratefully taking a long sip of the hot brew. Vi eyed her body, her bare legs were crossed in front of her, the woolen jumper partially covered her thighs. 

“I like seeing you be yourself.” She replied with a smile as she sat next to her. 

“Thank you Vi.” She said sweetly. “Are you ready?” She asked, adjusting her bun, her pen poised at the page. 

“Sure babe. Ask away.” 

“Okay. Do you know anything at all of your parents, or where you were born?” She said. 

Vi thought about it, she'd never remembered anything of her parents, she didn't know when they were given up. “I honestly have no idea of the life we had before Hope House. I don't remember it and as far as I remember neither does she. I did try to get the files from the orphanage when I was there, but they were so badly organised, I couldn't find them." Caitlyn nodded, her lips pursed.

"What?" Vi said. 

"Do you think Cherie might be able to help?" The Sheriff asked. 

"Maybe. I can go and see her tomorrow?" She suggested. Caitlyn nodded. 

"Good idea. You can take the rest of the day off, I'll work through these. You said you made up your last name right, Byrd?" She bit her lip, aware that these questions would tear up emotions. 

Vi nodded. "We got to choose one, so Jessa chose it. She liked that about Piltover, that you could see the birds." She sighed. 

Caitlyn noted it down. 

"Do you know how old you were when you were adopted?"

"Nah not really." She said, biting her nails. Caitlyn furrowed her brow, she could estimate within a bracket. 

"Do you remember if you'd gone through puberty?" She said discreetly. 

"Huh? Why would I remember that? I didn't notice when my tits got bigger I wasn't exactly thinking about that at the time jeez." She said looking confused at the personal question. 

"Do you remember having periods when you were at the facility?" She said with a sigh. 

"OH yeah no I don't get those." She said with an awkward smile.

"You don't bleed at all?" Caitlyn said, her eyes slightly widened. 

"Nah, thank fuck." She chuckled. 

Caitlyn furrowed her brow as she quickly wrote the words  _ Possibly infertile? _

"Wait, I remember one of them saying I was ten, that's when they tattooed me. Whether they were right or not I don't know but-"

"They tattooed you?!" She said, a little bit more upset about it than she wanted to sound. 

"Yeah Cait I thought you knew that. Why do ya think I have a number on my face?" She stared at the enforcer incredulously.

"I thought it was your name..?" 

"Oh shit yea! Wow I never realised that.." Caitlyn stared at the girl, if this conversation had happened when they met she never would have employed the brawler in front of her. 

"Are any of your other tattoos from them?" She asked, moving on from her bewilderment.

"Just this one." She said unbuttoning her shirt and showing the other tattoo placed just below her collarbone. Caitlyn blushed slightly, she wanted more, but now was not the time.

"The rest are mine." She said proudly. "I had a tatt artist for a fuckbuddy for a bit." 

The sheriff glared at Vi. Vi held her hands up defensively, she didn't put the sheriff down as the jealous type, but she loved it. 

"Chill babe, ill get a cupcake tattoo one day if it makes you feel better?" She said with a wink. 

"No. It doesn’t." She said glaring, batting the enforcer with her foot playfully. Vi grabbed her bare foot and squeezed it, making the sheriff shriek.“Vi!” She said exasperatedly. “Focus please!” She said, tutting. 

Vi raised her eyebrows at the sheriff challengingly. “Fine.” She said.

"Did they tattoo Jin- Jessa?" Caitlyn asked, correcting herself. 

"It’s fine Cait call her whatever. Yeah they did, she has an X on the back of her neck." She said, remembering the aftermath of Jessa's tears when they had done it. 

"X? So she was 10? Was there more of you?" The sheriff asked sitting up straight as she realised. 

"Uh I don't know I never thought about that.. wait but if there were and- we- we must have" She took deep breaths, her words incompletely falling from her mouth in panic. "Fuck." 

"Vi, you didn't know, you still don't know who was there. If the fire didn't happen… you might not be here. It’s okay." She said, leaning forward and gripping her hand. 

"I'll look into it, if there were others, it could help us understand what they did to you both and why." She said gently. 

"You could reverse it? Can you make her better?!" Vi said, her voice desperate and pleading. 

Caitlyn inhaled deeply. She looked down at the enforcers fingertips. 

"Darling I don't think it would be possible. I'll investigate as best I can but please don't get your hopes up, chemical alteration is almost always irreversible." Vi swallowed her hope and blinked hard. 

"Sure. Sorry I didn't think-" she whispered. 

"It’s okay love." She said caressing her knuckles. 

"Can you explain the different things they did to you?" Vi paused for a second. Caitlyn saw the hesitation in her eyes, she beckoned Vi with a fingertip, guiding her closer. Vi moved up the sofa next to the Sheriff, she rested her head on Caitlyn’s shoulder and hummed when her fingertips gently stroked her hair. 

She had the notes resting on her lap in front of her, her swirly writing was near impossible to read to Vi, but she could just about see the notes on herself. She exhaled deeply, thankful for the closeness. 

"They just tested our vitals and stuff for the first few days, we had the same basic food every night. They wanted to know our capabilities, pushing us to our limits, seeing what we could take. When they knew that, they started injecting us with shit." She watched as the sheriff scrawled down what she had said. 

"I started noticing the different colour patterns after a while. The syringes were huge and kinda glowy… there was an orange one, a pink one, and a purple one." 

"Did you hear them name them at all?" Vi shook her head. 

"Nah. They took notes as they did it but they kept it to themselves mostly."

"You say they? There was more than one person?" Caitlyn asked. 

"Oh, he had two little bitches that helped sometimes." She said with a smirk. 

"Were they there, when the building burnt down?" 

Vi bit her lip, they weren't. They were still alive, why hadn't she thought of that before. She shook her head slowly, deep in thought. 

"Okay." She said as she wrote the words on the paper. 

“Did they use them equally? Were there any colours they would favour with either of you?”

Vi furrowed her eyebrows as she thought back, the memories were so vivid to her it was like she was there again. The thumb that stroked her shoulder brought her back to reality. 

“Purple, they always used purple on me.” She said quietly. 

“And Jessa?” 

“Pink.”

“Okay, how would you have described her, before you were taken away?” She asked, tentatively. 

“She was bubbly, way smarter than me and she loved animals, she was always off chasin’ rats or somethin.” She chuckled. “This one time she tried to keep a pet snail, she kept it by the side of her bed in a jar, then Miss Morley found it and screamed bloody murder. Jeez I don’t know why that woman worked in Hope House, she really didn’t like kids…” Vi trailed off. 

“She never showed any maliciousness, angers, mental illness?” The Sheriff asked. 

“Nah. She was just a cute lil kid back then. The first change I noticed was the recklessness, when she burnt down the lab, she was so small I couldn’t believe it.” She said sitting up. 

“She was fine when she was happy, but if something pissed her off she turned into a little brat. It was manageable though, nothing like this…” Her voice was quiet. 

“Do you remember feeling any changes in yourself Vi?” She said, looking at her enforcer. There was a long pause. 

“I- I’m not sure.. I thought I was just growing up y know?” 

Caitlyn nodded sympathetically. “I know sweetheart.” She said, pulling Vi into her arms, moving the notebook aside. 

“We’ll leave it there. You did so well, thank you darling.” She said as she kissed the enforcers forehead. “We’re going to find her I promise.” 

Vi nodded. But she would by lying to herself if she said she wanted to find her, she was terrified of what they would do to her. She was a psychopath, and spent all of her time figuring out ways to piss Vi off, but she was still her sister. The only family she had left. 

  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oooof this some drama.. im sorry things will get shippy again when they have the time lmao


	19. XIX

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> One step forward, two steps back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, i heard you enjoy cuteness? Well enjoy it whilst it lasts ;O
> 
> Im ngl I did some more fanart and its a tad racey, but if ya wanna see it its on my tumblr and twitter both are @ameliajocash

Caitlyn woke up earlier than her alarm that morning, she snuggled herself into the arms of the enforcer smelling the sweet sleepy smell of her warm skin. Vi murmured and sleepily kissed the Sheriff on the top of her hair. 

"Mornin’ angel." She said sleepily. Her hands slid down the sheriffs waist and along the curves of her ass. "Mm I forgot you were naked." 

Caitlyn chuckled lowly, her body reaching to meet Vi’s fingers more so. 

"Did you forget why I'm naked?" She said huskily. Vi said grinning hard. 

"Aw hell no. Like i'd forget  _ that _ ." Vi sniggered as she caressed the soft skin beneath her. An idea sprung to mind, she grinned. “Did you know you talk in your sleep babe?”

“W-what? What did I say?” Caitlyn said, her blue eyes widened with shock. 

“You said you really wanna try ana-” 

_ BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP _

The alarm rang loudly through the bedroom, probably saving Vi’s life.

  
  


Caitlyn had left within the next hour, she kissed Vi goodbye and wished her luck with Cherie. Vi was excited to see her again, there was something homely to her, about having a friend to pay a visit too, apart from Laszlo, none of her friends had ever had a warm place to sleep at night. She liked that she was invited in, immediately feeling the warmth of the family home seeping into her frozen fingertips, she liked that even though she didn’t like hot drinks, Cherie would always offer her a hot cup of tea, and she liked that she would always say yes and slightly regret it as she ignored the taste for the trade off of warmth. 

Vi had made the executive decision to enjoy a few more hours in bed, not wanted to call on Cherie too early of course. She awoke to the sound of knocking at the door, sleepily she went to see who it was, she looked down at herself, she was just clothed in a pair of boxing shorts, she groaned and quickly threw on the silk robe that Caitlyn usually wore in the evenings, throwing it over her shoulders. This is  _ so  _ not my colour she thought grimacing. 

She swung the door open confidently, revealing a disgruntled Beaumont. Caitlyn’s father glared daggers at the enforcer instantly recognising the situation. Vi grit her teeth, internally sighing.  _ Shit.  _

“Hey Mr Beaumont. What brings you-” 

“To my daughters house? I  _ do _ wonder?” He said sarcastically. 

“Uh yeah, she’s not here. She’s at work.” Vi said raising her eyebrows. 

“Picking up the pieces no doubt.” He said under his breath. 

“Sorry what was that?” Vi said grinning in disbelief.

“May I come in?” He said, stepping towards her. It wasn’t a question. Vi stepped out of the way, her eyelids dropped with impatience. 

“Sure.” She said, through gritted teeth. Be the bigger man, she whispered to herself as she followed the statesman into the living room. “Take a seat.” she said, the tiredness already showing. He sat at the small dining table. 

“How do I put this?” He said, false wonderment in his brow. He knew exactly how to ‘put it’. “I know what you’re doing to my daughter, only a fool could miss it.” He said matter-of-factedly. Vi cleared her throat, the evidence of their relationship was in plain sight, they were living together, sure it was convenient, and they had planned to find Vi another flat but neither of them could deny the fact that they had deliberately put it to the back of their minds for the time being. Vi was barely clothed, his daughters robe draped over her shoulders, her hair mussed from the heated night between them. 

“What  _ I’m _ doing? Look buddy I’m  _ all  _ about consent. If there’s anything Cait didn’t want I’d know about it.” She said confidently, she didn't care if it made him uncomfortable, hell, he deserved it. 

"Your manipulation does not go unnoticed.  _ My _ daughter doesn't need some ratty zaunite streetkid trailing behind her 24/7." He scoffed. 

"Sir, I understand that this must be hard for you, but with all due respect, the relationship me and Caitlyn share has absolutely  _ fuck _ all to do with you." She said, Caitlyn's clean cut way of talking was evidently rubbing off on her. 

"Relationship?" He scoffed. "Don't make me sick!" 

Vi rolled her eyes, Cait would lose her mind if she were here. 

"You should probably leave." Vi said, the anger rising through her chest. 

“She could have it all you know. A successful career, the perfect husband, a family of her own.” He said wistfully, as if it were what every woman dreamt of. “The Beaumont Clan needs a successful lineage to develop, how will she achieve that with a zaunite brute like you tugging at her heels.” The bitterness seeped through his throat as he cleared it, there was the hint of a smug smile on his lips. 

“You talk about Caitlyn like she’s some prize mare you want to breed, and you think  _ I’m _ bad for her?” Vi’s heart raced. “Have you ever asked what  _ she _ wants? Cause from where I’m standing, it doesn’t seem like she’s particularly bothered about whether I'm a  _ pedigree _ or not.” She said, a smirk teasing the corners of her lips. He frowned and shook his head, his shoulders ramrod straight.

“If you  _ cared _ about my daughter in the slightest, you’d know her career is hanging by a thread because of you and your psychopathic family. She’s going to lose everything she’s worked for, and all for what? So you can get a leg over?” 

"Get out." She said coldly. He grinned, he was satisfied with himself as he headed for the door.

"If Cait had any idea you came here like this, she'd be heartbroken." She called to him as he left. She knew she couldn’t tell Caitlyn, not now, he was right she was under an incredible amount of pressure and he used it to his advantage.  _ Asshole. _

*** 

Vi did go to Cherie, who answered every question she could. The sad fact was, Cherie was young at the time, and she wasn’t working at Hope House when Vi and Jessa had first arrived. Vi frowned when she realised she was no closer to finding out where she came from. When she asked if Jessa was violent at all, Cherie furrowed her brow and shook her head. 

“Why on earth would you ask something like that love?” She said holding her baby close to her. 

“The blue-haired little psycho that’s running rampant around here… that’s Jessa. She’s  _ all _ grown up now.” She said with defeated sarcasm. Cherie gawked at the 23 year old in front of her. She got up from the sofa and put the baby in it’s crib, she then sat next to Vi and took hold of her hands. 

“Are you sure?” She said, firmly clutching at Vi’s hands. 

“Unfortunately yeah.” Vi said, looking down at their tightly held hands. “I think the chemicals at the test facility fucked her up.” 

Cherie nodded. It would make a lot of sense. 

“It’s weird it’s like she wants to irritate me.. I thought i’d be the only one she’d want to trust.” Vi mused to herself. 

“Love, maybe it’s because of what happened in the mine, she could have felt abandoned?” Vi nodded slowly, perhaps but something wasn’t sitting right with her. “I’m sorry I couldn’t help more Vi.” She said sadly. 

“Thank you, I’m sorry I only come here with serious topics to talk about.” She chuckled. 

Cherie smiled. “So why don’t you tell me all about that beautiful Sheriff of yours?” Vi blushed furiously and looked away, her lips pursed. Cherie giggled happily. “I know the look you gave her.”

“We’re trying to keep it on the down-low. Keepin’ it profesh y’know?” She said confidently as the baby cooed happily next to them. 

“Well I think you suit eachother.” She said with a smile. 

“Pfft really?” Vi scoffed. 

“Why does that surprise you?” Cherie asked. 

“Because she’s perfect and intelligent and I’m just… me.” She said honestly. She wasn’t bothered by it, she was always very honest and plain with herself so it wasn’t news to her. 

“Clearly there is something quite magnetic between the two of you. Just because it doesn’t seem like you’re suitable to everyone else, it doesn’t mean you aren’t. Besides, we both know that relationships between two women are something incomparable to anything else in this world.” 

Vi grinned, she was right about that. 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pls let me know your thoughts and feels! It makes my day to hear from ya - A


	20. XX

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things are getting a little rocky in Piltover

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hiii! Im feeling inspired again thank god. Christmas almost killed me (i work in retail). But I was really feeling this chapter so lets hope my motvation keeps up like this. 
> 
> ALSO my gf wrote me a Cait/Vi one-shot called Poison for christmas and it is AMAZING so go read that too!!

“Vi, don’t you fucking dare!” She half screamed, her arm involuntarily flew out towards the enforcer. Vi had no hesitation as she ran as fast as she could into the huge entrance of the ecliptic vaults, still plastered with neon painted taunts. Caitlyn waivered slightly, her body wanted to lurch forward, to run after Vi, pull her back and curse her for doing exactly what she had expected her too. But she couldn’t. If she left, the officers would be without her command, and right now, she had to stay in control of the situation. 

There was a pause, a moment between the half-dozen officers and their Sheriff as they waited for any indication of what was happening inside the vault. It was tense, everyone felt just as unnerved as Caitlyn herself. Sure it had taken a long time for the department to warm to Vi, but she had that presence about her, she was likeable if she wanted to be. And with her constant dedication to the team it was hard for them not to like her. She knew better than anyone that if one cog didn’t turn, none of them would, so slacking behind was  _ not _ an option.

Tensions were always high when a member of the team was at risk, whoever it was, but with the close relationship held between the Sheriff and her deputy - and the speculation that came with it - made the uncomfortable tense presence of fear even more palpable. 

Only the harsh scrape of Caitlyn’s boot as she crouched down broke the ironically loud silence as she knelt tentatively behind her rifle. She tightly held on to the gun, it had become an extension of her own body over the years, she thought maybe if she had a tight grip on the weapon then she would feel like she had more control over the situation. Alas, it did not. The worry was starting to bite into her, Vi had a habit of throwing herself recklessly into unknown situations but this time she had a very uneasy feeling forming in the pit of her stomach. Had she formed too much attachment to the enforcer? Or was something terrible about to happen..

A deep rumble emanated from within the building in front of them, the vibrations ran through the balls of the officers feet as they looked to eachother quickly. “RUN!” One of them shouted, they took off, in different directions, all away from the building. Caitlyn was frozen to the spot, Vi was in there, in the middle of it, waiting to be blown to pieces. Officer Xander looked back at the still woman behind them, she was still facing the building. “SHERIFF” He shouted, his eyes wide in terror, he shook his head incredulously and ran back and pulled her after him. 

As the wardens stumbled away clumsily, there was a loud explosion that rocked the city, the building tumbled down viciously as Caitlyn watched from the pavement, her jaw wide with shock. 

After a few seconds, it was almost silent again, only the noise of the horrified fleeing birds above their heads echoed. Xander looked at the Sheriff who had fallen into him in the daze, her chest rose and fell rapidly, her eyes fixated to the building in front of her. He instinctively took the communicator from her hip and announced the situation and requested backup and medics. She still hadn’t batted an eyelid, but after he handed back the communicator, she fumbled to attach it to herself, and quickly shook herself. Her eyes flitted between her officers quickly before she followed the impulse in her head. Vi. 

She ran towards the smoking building. “Sheriff it’s not safe!” One of the officers shouted panickedly. She ignored the comment, blind to her rationalities. She’ll find her. 

Caitlyn found a way into the building, there was still the hint of a route through to the main hall, it was littered with rubble that the woman blindly climbed over. The inside was smoky, everything covered in a red hue from the lit flames that licked at the wallpaper.

She slipped slightly, on a chunk of concrete, almost falling to the floor, as the vibration jittered more of the debris, a floorboard from the above fell towards her. She hissed and jumped forward, realising the danger she was in. 

“Vi?” She shouted, choking on the smoke as she strained her voice. “Vi where are you?” She hoped and needed Vi to say something back, for her to jump out with that cocky grin and say something infuriatingly stupid, like she always did. But all Caitlyn could hear was the forceful roar of the burning walls. 

She followed the corridor and saw the left turn that she needed to take towards the vaults. As she neared the hall end she saw the state of the dilapidated staircase she would have ordinarily taken. She took a deep breath and stepped back, closing her eyes for a moment before taking a running jump. She landed with a grunt and skidded slightly as she hit the carpeted floor, looking back towards the stairs she grimaced, it wasn’t going to be easy to get out again. 

“Vi? Vi are you here!?” She said, her voice hoarse and drowned out by roaring flames. She swallowed, trying to wet her dry throat, to no avail she pulled of the bomber jacket from her shoulders and held it across her mouth as a filter. It helped somewhat. It was then that she heard voices, it sounded as if a heated argument was taking place, but she wasn’t near enough to hear the words. 

Hope driving her, she jogged forward, towards the entrance to the vaults. “Vi!?” She shouted again. 

“Cait?!” She heard back. It was her. 

She could just see the pink hair through the red haze, she smiled, just knowing she was alive was enough for her. Her smile disappeared as she saw the blue haired hellion across from her, grinning like a clown. 

“Oh HEY hat-lady.” She said happily. Caitlyn ignored her, seeing the debris that stood between them, Vi wasn’t reachable. She looked at Vi, her eyes pleading, scared even. 

“Babe it’s okay.” Vi said, trying to smile, hoping if she kept things calm then Jinx wouldn’t lose it. It almost seemed like the small amount of alone-time she had had with her sister had calmed the tiny girl.  _ Seemed like _ .

“Sorry sis, Hat-lady isn’t invited, this ones family ONLY.” She said, lifted her gun. She aimed easily at the Sheriff, who’s vulnerability towards the enforcer had her completely unaware, until the enforcer pulled back her gauntlet launching herself at her sibling. Jinx fired at the Sheriff at the same time. Vi watched as the disrupted aim launched the bullets at the concrete arch above the Sheriff. Sure, she’d stopped Caitlyn from being shot, but at what cost?

There was no control over the angry scream that left her throat as she watched the concrete crash down ontop of the Sheriff, leaving her body lifeless on the ground. 

“An eye for an eye huh?” Jinx said grinning proudly. Vi snapped her head towards her with a glare and threw herself at the tiny form in front of her. 

“WHY?” Vi demanded through fiercely gritted teeth as she pinned the girls hands down underneath her knees.

“Ow! You’re hurting!” She complained. Vi leant harder, reinstating her irritation. “She got between us! It's meant to be you and me, me and you, forever remember? _ ”  _ Her eyes were big and honest, she wasn’t trying to be annoying anymore.

Vi growled and got up, she punched the wall next to them, making the small girl shriek. 

“Fucking scram before I do something I regret.” Vi said as she jogged over to Caitlyn’s lifeless form.

“Shit.” She said, gently moving some of the pieces of rock that lay on top of her. She looked so young and small laying there so still, her dark eyelashes closed and resting, coated in dust. Bruising dappled her skin, certain parts of her were bloodied and battered, but she still had an air of beauty about her. Vi released the breath she’d been holding as she saw the shallow rise and fall of Caitlyn’s breathing.

“Cait?” She whispered carefully, dragging a thumb across her blackened cheek, her skin was still soft and warm. Her eyelashes flickered slightly as her throat murmured something. Vi was blazingly aware of the rapidly self-destructing building around them. 

“I’m gonna get you out okay? We’re okay.” Vi said, whether she was trying to convince herself or Caitlyn she didn’t know. She quickly felt along the Sheriff’s spine to make sure she didn't have any major injuries, before gently scooping her up and holding her close to her chest.

_ This is all my fault. _

***

Vi ran up the stairs to the top office where Caitlyn’s things were, she grabbed her coat and house keys and ran back down bumping into Blakeley on the way. 

“Vi what happened?! Where’s Cait?” He said, looking to the rest of the returning officers, something was off, he could tell. 

“They took her to hospital, I came for her things.” Vi said fumbling with the keys in her hand, all of her words merged together in a viciously overwhelmed state. 

“You are not driving yourself there Vi. Give me the keys.” He said holding out a manicured finger. “Cait would never forgive me if I let you walk away with her car keys like that. Come on.” 

Vi followed him to the car and gratefully got in, her hands still shaking slightly with the adrenaline. “Tell me what happened.” He said calmly starting the car.

“She wrote the details on the wall of the ecliptic vaults themselves, she planned to rob them. Cait had our response planned, everything was going fine but - I needed to see her, to talk to her. I thought she’d listen to me if it was just us…maybe she’d stop.” she sighed.

“You went in?!” He said, sounding surprised.

“I didn’t think Cait would follow me in there. And I didn’t think Jessa was gonna blow the place up.” She said, her voice wavering, the guilt was getting to her.

“Well it doesn’t matter now.” He said nonchalantly as they approached the hospital. “She’ll be fine Vi, she always is.” 

They got out of the car and headed to the door. Blakeley turned slightly adjusting his perfectly coiffed hair, he saw the black car pulling up out of the corner of his eye. 

“You might wanna run ahead Vi, Cedric’s just pulled up too.” Vi rolled her eyes angrily. 

“I don’t have time for this.” She growled. 

“I’ll hold him up, you go ahead!” He said quickly. 

Vi mumbled her thanks and jogged into the hospital, she stopped to stare at the signs trying to understand where to go, but she was so overwhelmed that it didn’t make any sense. A nurse approached the confused enforcer, she gave a sympathetic smile and nodded towards the corridor behind her. 

Vi furrowed her brow and looked down at herself.  _ Am I that obvious? _ She thought to herself as she headed into the right corridor. 

Caitlyn looked just as tiny as she did before, her body was softly curled up, no sign of her usual rigid posture. They had cleaned her up well, the cuts across her face were visible but no longer a bloody mess. Her hair was strewn out down the left side of her shoulder, a dark violet mess against the rough white sheets. 

Vi’s eyes trailed across the length of her body, exhaling slowly. She brushed her fingertips against her pale forearm, craving the warmth of her skin. She gently dragged her fingers along her wrist and entangled her fingers with Caitlyn’s. Aside from the bruising, she had gotten away miraculously unscathed, but still, she couldn’t shake the feeling that this was all down to her. 

“I’m so sorry Cait.” She whispered. The door opened as a nurse quickly entered holding a clipboard with some notes. 

“When she wakes up we’ll just do a quick scan to make sure there’s no head trauma and then she will be free to go.” She said turning to face the man behind her. Cedric Beaumont. 

“Miss, if you’re not immediate family I’m afraid I have to ask you to leave.” The nurse said peering over her glasses. 

“She’s definitely not family.” Peter said under his breath. 

“I’m her partner, I was there when this happened you can’t just make me leave.” Vi argued. 

“Just go. You’re in the way and she needs to rest.” He spat, glaring at the enforcer. 

Vi shook her head incredulously and turned on her heel to leave. “I’m only doing this for her-” 

“Vi?” Caitlyn croaked quietly, gently interrupting the enforcer. Vi’s head snapped towards her partner and turned back to her, she gently took her hand as if she were made of fragile glass and kissed her forehead. Cedric’s glare grew colder as he watched his daughter nestle into the warmth of her enforcers lips. 

“Miss, I’m sorry but you have to leave.” The nurse said empathetically from behind. “She is in good hands.”

Vi sighed. “I gotta go Cait but you’re gonna be okay, they’re gonna take good care of you.” She said as she gently rested a hand against the Sheriff’s cheek. Her eyes opened gently revealing her bright blue pupils. She smiled weakly to the enforcer. 

As Vi turned to leave the room her eyes connected to Cedric’s, his eyes the same shade of icy blue as his daughters, but colder somehow. As their sights crossed Vi remembered his words. He was right. She was endangering Caitlyn, and there wasn’t anything she could do to change that. 

_ Unless?  _

  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oof i feel like Im writing Cait a little bit too vulnerable sometimes but what can ya do, shes always gonna be a bad bitch at heart <3


	21. XXI

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vi makes a big decision

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, you might have noticed I fiddled with the last chapter a lil bit so sorry if you got the email thinking I'd posted again >< This chapter is a wee one but I think it needed to be. 

Vi had spent that night tossing and turning, the bed was cold and empty of its usual occupant. Caitlyn would be discharged from the hospital in the morning, and she'd head straight to the Piltover Police Department no doubt. Vi knew she had to make a decision, she'd seen the media reports, the news, saying what happened to Caitlyn. It wasn't new to her of course, she'd seen the tabloids and their twisted stories before, a lot of them had already implied that there was something going on between the two women. She tried to tell herself that it would have happened anyway, even if there wasn't something between them but it didn't help. People were asking questions, and Caitlyn was in the line of fire for them all. Her role as Sheriff of Piltover was hanging by a thread and after the night before, it seemed like her life was too. The enforcer couldn't help but feel responsible, and so she made her decision. This had to stop. 

The next morning, her cold walk to the precinct took longer than ever before. She didn't know if it was because she was consciously trying to take slower steps, to prolong the avoidance, or if the steps she took simply felt like they were taking forever. It was the last thing she had ever wanted to do, but she had to protect Caitlyn, and this was the only way. 

As she walked her usual route she breathed in the cold air deeply, for a second she was aware of the ache in her jaw, it had been clenched since she’d left that morning. She wiggled it slightly but only moments later it was back to its rigid state and she was completely ignorant again, stuck in a state of melancholia. 

It had taken her a lot longer to get ready than it usually did, despite having less to put on. For the first time, she was heading to the offices in casual clothes. She caught her reflection of the front door as she finally approached it, a black tank top, some well-worn jeans and a backpack, that’s everything she needed to take with her. Without her armour she looked softer, she felt more exposed, as if every one of her feelings were completely visible. 

She had paused in front of the doors, hesitating. An officer approached behind her, Officer Lafton. He spied her with a look of intrigue on his face, they weren’t close enough for him to warrant asking, but that didn’t stop him wondering why. He offered the open door for her, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion, she definitely looked like she was heading somewhere. Maybe he thought she’d been sacked, she wondered, scoffing slightly. I definitely should have been.

She quickly wiped the smirk from her lips when she remembered why she was there. She kept forgetting, her mind kept slipping back to her simple reality, when things weren’t like this, she was happy, and comfortable. When she awoke that morning, for a second she thought of her, she smiled, the warmth spread through her middle and then just like that it was gone, like a rug pulled out from under her feet. She bit her lip as the thought of Caitlyn entered her mind. She was probably in the office by now, she should have been resting, but with the workload waiting for her, there was no chance of that.

Vi felt bad for the Sheriff, she had no idea what was coming. Don’t think about it. She scolded herself, trying hard to block the emotions. Things are different now, things have to change and you need to accept that, for her. 

She nodded a thanks to Lafton as he turned to the lower offices, he took a glance back at her as he left. See ya bud, she said in her head watching as her feet took the steps up towards the Sheriff’s office. To her.

Vi paused outside the office, her eyes fixated on the detail of the doorknob, her mind selfishly flickered back to a few weeks before, after the first night they had sex. She smiled thinking back to it, she had stood in the same spot as she was in now, embarassingly wondering how to address Caitlyn. Her lover? Her superior? 

Her everything. 

She swallowed down the lump in her throat and turned the door handle. There she was, as if nothing had even happened to her. Focused, her hand delicately poised with a fountain pen. She looked up at the enforcer, her eyes still a glacial blue, framed with thick black lashes. She smiled at first, instinctively, but then she frowned as she studied the enforcers body language, her casual dress, her bags. You wouldn’t need a detective’s mind to know what was happening. 

Vi could see the questions brewing behind her focused brow, her own theories and ideas as to what was happening. 

Her mouth opened slightly as she studied Vi’s face, searching for any sign of emotion clues. 

Caitlyn didn’t ask what Vi was doing, she didn’t need too. The enforcer wasn’t at all surprised when the words that left Caitlyn’s mouth were simply “Why?”

Because I love you. She thought. 

“I hate it here. I want to go.” Vi said. She had lied of course, in fact, she was actually starting to enjoy it there, but that didn't matter now.

“You’re lying.” Caitlyn said. Vi could tell she wasn’t quite convinced, she watched as the woman’s lips parted in quiet panic. She bit her lip gently, thinking that Caitlyn would hold it together, but that was the irony of it, the enforcer was the one that taught the Sheriff not to do that anymore. So now here she was, causing the pain she had helped her deal with. 

“I have to protect Jessa.” Vi said, her mouth struggling to twist around her sister’s real name. “She needs me and I owe it to her.” Her voice cut deep, she’d made her decision and there was no turning back.

“I need you.” Caitlyn whispered, she blinked as her voice waivered. That was hard for her to say, Vi could tell. 

“No you don’t. You’ll move on Cait. Find a nice guy that listens to you and loves you just as mu-” She stopped herself from finishing that sentence and frowned.

Vi knew she had to do damage, enough to make the Sheriff want to move on, she couldn’t follow her, she couldn’t want her back.

“When I was in the vaults with her, she was coming around, she seemed normal. It was you that sent her off, and it’s your kind that are out to destroy her. She’s my sister, the only family I’ve ever had and I’m not gonna let Piltover destroy that.” She said firmly. “You all think she’s the monster. But it's you and your wealth that pushes the poverty in Zaun further into its depths, you’re the reason we grew up that way, that's why she’s the way she is.” Vi said, some of it was true, some of it she meant, but she never thought she'd say it out loud. 

"But we can talk about that." She said still confused by the sudden decision. 

"I've already made up my mind, I'm going."

Caitlyn blinked quickly, her mouth parted and closed again as if she wanted to speak but couldn't grasp the words. Avoiding her hurt as best she could as she rifled through one of the drawers. She pulled out a thick file and tore out a page and offered it to the enforcer, her hands were shaking. She avoided the enforcers glance with every opportunity, as if the sight of Vi would completely unravel her.

The Sheriff turned coldly to face the window, away from Vi, she sniffed and straightened her back. “Sign it and give it to Blake on your way out. You’ll be paid to the end of the month.” She said coldly. 

It felt wrong, to leave without a smile, a kiss, or any form of touch and warmth. As the door closed behind Vi, she took a glance back through the pane of glass. Her heart dropped sickeningly as she saw the Sheriff. She was sitting back at her desk, her head in her hands, crying. Vi remembered the first time she had seen Caitlyn cry, her stomach tightened, it was something she never wanted to see again, and now she was the cause. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TT someone give cait a hug


	22. XXII

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The aftermath of a breakup

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh man, this was a tricky chapter to write, I thought the pair of them deserved some time to deal with their breakup, so I hope its not too boring

Caitlyn leant back in her chair, her fingers ran through her hair as another tear fled down her cheek. Her chest shook with a sob, she looked down at the papers underneath her, the tears that had fallen onto them had sent the ink billowing across each sentence. She growled and swept the sheets onto the floor next to her, knocking off the ink and a teacup on the floor in the process. They fell to the floor with a smash, she stared at them for a second her eyes fixated on the broken teacup. How many of those had she gotten through since Vi started making her tea? Must have been three or four now, she wasn't the most dextrous when it came to being delicate objects. The tea mixed with the ink as it slowly seeped into the floorboards. 

She felt confused, it didn't make sense, she thought that they were close enough to talk about these things. Usually if something bothered Vi she would say something without hesitation. I guess you can't predict unpredictable people.

"Cait? You okay?" Blakeleys voice came from the other side of the door. She should have known he'd come up. He tentatively opened the door, his eyebrows furrowed as he saw the mess of her office. 

She was thankful when he came in and locked the door behind him. She didn't say anything as he picked up the broken China and threw it in the bin wrapped in paper. 

He dabbed at the reports, savouring them from the liquids. She murmured a thank you as he placed them back in front of her. 

He knelt in front of her and grabbed her hands tightly holding them in his. 

"Look at me Cait…” He said taking hold of her chin. “Men are trash.” He said smiling sympathetically. She chuckled and sniffed, wiping her eyelashes with a slender finger. 

He stood up and pulled her into his long arms. 

"It just doesn't make sense." She whispered into his shoulder. 

"I know." He said. He was just as puzzled as she was, when he asked Vi why on earth she was going she just said 'she had too'. 

"I think you should go home and take the day off today." He said, pulling her back from him. 

"No. I need to distract myself, besides, she’s everywhere, it’s not like it’s gonna make it any easier.” She said, eyeing up the work before her. 

“Fine, but later we’re going for a drink.” She rolled her eyes. 

“We’ll see.” She said quietly.

Once she had gathered herself and formed that hard emotionless shell back up, she eventually spent the day tying up the loose ends. Whether Vi was taking Jinx out of the equation or not, it had to be done. Besides, she couldn't predict what would happen anymore, every base had to be covered, breakup or no breakup. 

***

Vi walked away from the Piltover Police Department, the first real job she'd ever had that made her feel valued. She'd miss it, there weren't many people that would see potential in her, she'd have to get used to being underestimated again. 

She didn't know what to do, she hadn't planned past the break up at all. The chances of her finding Jinx were small, but part of her hoped that maybe things would quieten down in Piltover if she wasn't there anymore. She couldn’t help but feel overwhelmed by her freedom, things were so different now, she hated how accustomed she’d gotten to life in Piltover. Going back down to Zaun wasn’t something she had anticipated. 

She pulled out a smoke and headed towards Cherie's, she should probably tell her what had happened before planning her new life.

Cherie opened the door to Vi, baby in hand. She held out her spare arm to hug her, a warm smile on her face. 

"I wondered when you'd come by, I saw the headlines. They have a lot to say don't they?" She said sympathetically. 

Vi scoffed. "Not my problem anymore." Cherie ushered her in, a look of confusion on her face.

"I left.” She said, there was a sadness to her voice. 

“You left your job?” She said, sitting next to her. 

“All of it, the job, her.” Vi murmured, she threw the backpack containing her gauntlets on the table floor. She closed her eyes and let the stress breathe out of her nostrils as she ran her fingers through her hair. 

“Come here love.” Cherie said holding her arms out. “I have a spare bed in Marcie’s room, it might not be the best night sleep you’ve ever had because she’s teething. But you should be around people okay? I dont want you being alone at a time like this.” She said, pulling the zaunite into her warmth. Vi nodded into her, she was thankful to feel like she had someone to go to. “What happened?” 

Vi was quiet, she fiddled with the drawstring tie on her trousers as she leaned into the older woman. “I was bad for her.” She managed to mumble. “My sister’s still wreaking havoc, Cait’s barely getting sleep let alone having the time to eat, I almost got her killed the other day you know? That’s what the papers say n’ its not like they’re lyin.” She said, her voice seemed too much like it was trying to convince her of something. There was something she wasn't telling her. 

"Vi this isn't like you, you're too stubborn to back down like this, you love that job and well, her." She said studying her face, Vi looked to the side as she thought about it.

"I didn't properly realise until her father came to visit, how bad things were." She said, a serious tone to her voice. "I know he was just trying to stir things up - but he was right.. ” She looked away, the vulnerability showing. 

“Vi what your sister is doing is not your fault, you know that right?” Cherie said seriously. 

“Mhm. But I know if i’m not there as her target, then Caitlyn can just carry on without me. I made up my mind. I gotta move on too.” She said with a heavy sigh.

*** 

Caitlyn turned down Blake’s invitations for a drink, she knew she had to brave going home. As soon as she entered the house she realised Vi had thought about this too. Every little detail of her home, was exactly as it was before, before Vi had even stepped inside. The blanket that she always wrapped around the Sheriff as she fell asleep on the couch, was put away; the cup that Vi had claimed as her own because it too had a chip in its shoulder, gone; she’d even pulled the strands of vibrant pink hair from her hairbrush. She knew Caitlyn would be hurting, so she spent most of that sleepless night before erasing every detail of her existence, just to make it easier on her. 

She knew it wouldn't help, but there was a small part of the Sheriff, that wanted something to remind her of the no-longer-enforcer so she went to the back patio, and found the end of a cigarette. It reminded her of that night they shared one, she still wasn’t sure what had gotten into her, things were intense at the time, but Vi had a habit of intoxicating her with her infuriating ways so she couldn’t be too surprised. She held the dry cigarette end in her fist tightly as she turned back to the kitchen to pour herself her first drink of the night. 

By her third stiff whiskey she had crumpled herself on the floor at the end of her bed wrapped in the same blanket, she gripped the neck of the bottle in her hand as she leant back on the bedframe. A huge part of her, had hopes that if she drank enough, she would see her. The cocky lopsided grin, the arrogant sway as she walked into the room, she’d pick her up and tell her it was all just a bad dream and they’d fall asleep and wake up entangled in eachother like they did before. 

*** 

Vi was grateful to be accepted into Cherie's home by the rest of her family, even if it was just for the night. Darrel came home with the rest of their children, she didn't bat an eyelid that Vi was there, she hugged her as if she was an old friend, and joked about Cherie having adopted another kid, despite her age. Vi was glad about the warmth of the family around her, they were kind and unquestioning, if anything she felt bad that she had met them in such bad circumstances. 

She spent the evening playing with the youngest children, they served as a brilliant distraction whilst Cherie explained to Darrell what was going on. "Are you in the police?" Rosie asked as she played with Vi's hair, she was five and had lost a leg in a sump accident.

"I was, but I'm not now." Vi replied. 

"Why?" She said curiously.

"You're at the questions stage huh? I left because -" she paused. Why did she leave?

"Rosie darling why don't you show Vi your drawings!" Cherie said with a knowing grin. Vi looked up at her from the floor with a thankful smile. Cherie was sitting with her legs up on the sofa, Darrel was drawing circles on her thigh lovingly. I miss her touch already. Vi thought as she reminisced of the small connections of warmth that they shared together when they were at work. 

Vi happily mused over Rosie's drawings, these kids were a good distraction.

Cherie watched as her two youngest children coloured in the tattoos on Vi's arms, she didn't mind that they were up past their bedtime, she was just happy to see Vi smile again. 

When they finally turned in, they showed Vi their spare bed in baby Marcie’s room. She bid them goodnight and slipped into the tiny bed. Sleep didn't come easily, not because of the small murmurs from the baby but because all she could think about was what Caitlyn was doing. Was she okay? She wondered. 

After giving up trying to sleep, she went downstairs for a cigarette out the back. She looked up at the sky as she thought about the smoke they'd shared that night. It would take a long time for her to forget Caitlyn, if it were even possible. She looked at the stars, it was a very clear night, you could see everything. She remembered someone telling her that if she missed someone, to look at the stars and know that even if you're far apart, you're still looking at the same sky. She chuckled to herself, realising that you can't see shit from Zaun. Typical. 

When Vi got back up to the bedroom, the baby was crying. Her eyes widened a little, she wasn't qualified for this. She reached into the crib and lifted the squirming baby out, balancing her on her hip like she had seen Cherie do. 

"Hey hey.." she said as she gently bounced her. "What happened bud? Tell me all about it." She said, sitting on the bed with her. Marcie’s face paused, her face was red and wet from the tears, she looked at Vi. 

"I know exactly how you feel." Vi said, continuing to talk to the baby as if she were a fully grown adult. Cherie appeared at the doorway in a dressing gown, a warm smile displayed on her lips. 

"You'd make a great parent." She said with a chuckle. 

"Ugh don't." Vi said grimacing. She wouldn't ever admit to it, not now anyway, but there was a part of her that did want to have a family. She'd grown up without one herself so she had a lot of love to give. But it hurt to think of that now, she never spoke about it with her but she always pictured that family with her and Caitlyn at the forefront. But still, that didn't matter anymore. 


	23. XXIII

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Caitlyn’s more honest and outspoken than ever before

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whaaa, I’ve had this idea for a while and lemme tell you this was satisfying to write 😂 but GOD I MISS THOSE 2

Caitlyn’s parents had arranged a family dinner, in hopes to remind her of their love and support, or so they suggested. Lots of their extended family and friends had been invited, including Blakeley, which she was incredibly thankful for. 

Blake had suggested they go together, knowing fully well she had gotten used to Vi’s accompaniment when it came to events. 

“Why is our family so extra?” He said with a small chuckle. Caitlyn rolled her eyes in agreement. 

“I suspect there’s some underlying purpose.” She said, slightly suspicious of the dinner arrangements. “There's always a bloody reason.” She murmured.

The door was quickly opened by the family's butler, who gracefully stood back from the door to welcome them in. Caitlyn spared a smirk towards Blakeley as they stepped through the Beaumont Manor, they thanked him as they entered.

“Darlings!” Eliza said excitedly, throwing herself towards them. She wrapped her arms around Caitlyn’s neck lovingly, she hadn’t seen her since Vi had left. 

“How are you holding up my dear?” She said discreetly, as she kissed her head. 

“I’m perfectly fine." Caitlyn replied firmly, sharing a glance with Blake as she pulled herself away. 

"And Blakeley love, how are you?" She said, pulling him in and kissing him on either cheek. He grinned happily. 

"I'm wonderful darling, and Eliza that red looks gorgeous on you." He said, commenting on the deep red blouse she had dressed in. 

"Oh thank you, anything to distract Cedric tonight. He's in a strange mood and I can't quite put my finger on it." She said furrowing her brow. "Anyway, we mustn't be rude to our guests. Shall we go through?" She said guiding them through Caitlyn's childhood home. It wasn't easy for Caitlyn to be back there, she’d decided to at least tell Blakeley of her past, she needed the support if she was going to be there.

When Caitlyn entered the sitting room she saw a few familiar faces, the mayor being one of them. The room silenced slightly as she approached, a few warm smiles sent her way. She could only imagine the things they thought of her after some of the headlines she'd seen. She grimaced, this would be perfectly uncomfortable, she thought as she eyed up the numerous bottles of alcohol.

“Mother, I thought this was a family thing?” 

“Ah yes well the Mayor asked what your father was doing tonight, so naturally he invited him, and the chancellor of course. He thought it might be a nice time to reflect on Piltover’s successes?” She said quietly. Caitlyn bit her tongue, knowing that probably meant ‘highlight her mistakes’ somehow. 

“Drink?” Blakeley asked reading Caitlyn’s stance. She nodded. Even he was a little scared of the Sheriff when she was on edge. 

As she waited for Blake to return she noticed her father was speaking to someone, from behind, she couldn’t make out who the mysterious silhouette was, but he seemed quite entertained. He caught her eye over the mystery guest’s shoulder and headed over, beckoning his guest to follow. 

Caitlyn heard Blake mouth something under his breath as he returned, his eyes falling upon the tall man in front of them. 

"My darling daughter, this is Jayce Giopara." 

"The defender of tomorrow." She said stiffly. "Caitlyn, Sheriff of Piltover. Pleasant to meet you." Her voice was bland and greatly unimpressed. She offered a handshake to him. He took it gratefully and kissed her knuckles gently. Blakeley felt his cousin tense up next to him in response, he remained in a daze as he studied the handsome mans jawline.

"I've heard incredible things about you Sheriff." He said, a smirk across his lips.

"I must admit when i’d heard of your successes in lawful improvement I didn't expect such beauty." He said, his smile charming as ever. Caitlyn immediately tensed up in response. 

"Interesting.. do tell me have you always assumed the correlation between aesthetics and intelligence?" She asked. Her father glared daggers at her as he watched the exchange expectantly. 

"I meant no offence Miss Beaumont, only that I was perfectly stunned by your splendor." He said. His eyes looked into Caitlyn's unwaveringly, she'd heard things of him too, his successes, his unwilting confidence - that easily teetered onto the line of arrogance. All of which were proving correct, but it was clear that her father and Blakeley saw through it. 

"Jayce and I have been working together on some prototyping, we’ve had many discussions of late. Caitlyn narrowed her eyes, as she studied her fathers cunning glare. 

“How wonderful for you both.” She said, reading where the situation was heading, she didn’t like it.

“Dinner is almost served, please seat yourselves.” Eliza interrupted, raising her voice above the conversations in the room.

Caitlyn sighed gratefully, slipping herself away from the conversation and towards the dining table. Her and Blakeley sat next to one another, she sent another knowing look towards him as she generously sipped her drink. 

“I’m getting the vibe that daddy-dearest is trying to set someone up.” He said quietly.

“It is beyond me why he thinks it’s okay to do this.” She hissed “Especially now. He’s even made him sit near us.” Her lips pressed into a firm line as she looked at them.

“So you’re not interested? Because honestly if you don’t want him I’ll take him.” He said with a grin.

She chuckled and raised an eyebrow towards her cousin. “Even you’re too good for the likes of him.” She said rolling her eyes. “Besides, I think he is a little bit too into women, to pay much interest to you.” 

“Boring.” He said dramatically. “What’s the harm in trying, we all know it’s not a real dinner party if there’s no family dramaaa.” He said half singing the sentence.

“Well if my father keeps trying to sell me off like an animal, there will be much more than family drama.” She said with a fake smile across her lips as she noticed an uncle waving to her from the other side of the table. 

Food was brought out and handed to each guest on gilded plates, drinks were poured out in equal measure. Cedric stood at the head of the table proudly holding his glass, silence spread through the guests as he held it to the ceiling. 

“I’d like to take this moment to celebrate the success of my daughter Caitlyn, times have been tough in Piltover these past few weeks and you’ve worked so very hard. May things come easier now she’s gone.” He said happily. Glasses were clinked and smiles were aimed at the Sheriff. She could feel the blood angrily flying through her, she slowly stood up. 

“If you’re referring to my par- ex partner, Vi, I must insist on correcting you. Vi was a skilled and dedicated protector of this city, I have statistics that can withstand more argument than your per opinion.” She said coldly. She quickly smoothed her skirt down and sat down, sending an apologetic look towards her mother. 

“I think your father may have meant the ex-enforcer’s sibling my dear. Which we are all glad to be rid of.” The mayor smiled awkwardly. Caitlyn blushed with her outburst, but she was sick of their assumptions.

“With all due respect Sir, Jinx may have been quiet for the past week or so, but we cannot let ourselves get compliant yet, she could come back at any point, we have to be ready for that.” She said. 

“Of course Sheriff, Piltover is always ready.” He said, nodding confidently. The table erupted into murmurs of agreement. 

“Still, let us forget the hardships of this beloved City of Progress whilst we enjoy this grand meal.” Eliza announced, trying to warmly dissipate the tension.

As they ate and drank, simpler conversation topics were had, Caitlyn began to feel less tense. She laughed at Blake’s mocking of the guests around the table, whilst politely continuing conversation with them. Her father had tried to involve her into a few conversations with Jayce, but with the conversation bouncing between the two egotistical men it was easy for her to slip out of them. 

“You’re sipping that pretty fast Cait.” Blakeley whispered to her as he noted the empty glass. 

“You would be too if you were in my position.” She said back. He had to admit, that was a fair comment, but he did have some concerns about the woman’s coping mechanisms, whether she’d noticed them herself or not. 

Once they had finished the meal, her mother introduced their entertainment for the evening, a string quartet that sat in the corner of the room playing classical Piltoverian pieces. They had tried to get Caitlyn to learn to play the violin when she was younger, but she gave it up when she found out she preferred the feeling of her fingers against a trigger instead. She smiled at the thought of it, if only her younger self knew what she’d become.

Caitlyn’s father approached her again, Jayce in tow. A warm smile featured on his lips and his eyes took in the tall woman before him, her hair was down and loosely framing her face, the dark shade of it contrasted her eyes beautifully. She hadn’t made her usual effort, just a sweep of eyeshadow across her eyelids and a light red tint to her lips, it wasn’t like she had anyone she wanted to show off too anymore. 

“I thought you would be interested in what we’ve been up too darling.” Her father said proudly. “Mhm and what would that be?” She replied. 

“We’ve been working on some prototyping for a heat sensor rifle attachment. Something you could definitely make use of in the Police Department.” He said, his lips curling into a grin. “Since we have guests I am afraid I am obliged to remain present, but Jayce could show you our work so far?” He said, a cunning look in his eyes.

“A word please?” Caitlyn said, a frown formed on her lips as she pulled her father into the corner of the room. He glared at her behaviour and opened his mouth to respond before he was cut off by his daughter’s cold, cutting voice.

“What on earth do you think you’re doing?” She said angrily.

“I’m just trying to get you where you need to be Caitlyn.” He said. 

“And where pray-tell is that?” She hissed. 

“You’re at the age where you should settling down to build a future with someone, and I happen to know many reputable suitors that would be very appropriate.” 

“Firstly, I had found someone and whether you liked it or not I cared about her more than i’ve ever cared about anyone before. Secondly, don’t you dare impede on my personal life as much as to line up a queue of suitors that I am not, and never will be interested in!” She said through gritted teeth.

“What exactly do you mean?” he said, his nostrils flared with prickly irritation.

“I, don’t, like, men.” She said, pronouncing each word with emphasis. She could see him struggle to comprehend what she had said. 

“Nonsense. What about Darian?” He said. The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end as she heard his name spoken out loud. Just breathe. She said to herself in aims to calm down. 

“That was nine years ago!” She hissed, deciding that now was not the time to bring that up.

“Y-you haven’t tried hard enough-” 

“Tried hard enough? Do you want to know what Darian did to me? I’ve been trying my best to ignore that part of my life but you're making it impossible.” 

“What do you mean?” He stuttered, his voice angry but concerned. 

“He held me down and raped me whilst I listened to your screams.” She said quickly taking a sharp inhale.

"What?!" She heard her mother say from behind her. Caitlyn froze, instantly regretting bringing such a thing up at a time like this. She felt sick, it had slipped out in her anger, she just wanted her father to understand, and now she had to break her mothers heart too. 

Eliza pulled her into the hallway away from any prying ears.

"Tell me I heard that wrong Caitlyn.. please." She said, her voice desperate as she gripped her rigid daughters arms. Caitlyn shook her head gently. "I'm sorry." 

Eliza's chest sank with a deep sigh, she pulled Caitlyn into her and held her tighter than ever. 

“He was a distraction, to keep me out of the way whilst they took you away.” She said, swallowing her anxiety as the image of his cold dead eyes flashed across her brain. 

"That’s why you - oh love I'm sorry, I should have protected you better than that, to think it's been nine years and I never knew the extent of what you'd been through. What kind of a mother am I?" She said, her eyes were shut tight. She kissed the top of Caitlyn's hair, smelling the top of her head as she did when she was just an infant in her arms. 

"Mother it isn't your fault, I hid it from you on purpose, I thought if I was the only one who knew then it would minimise the damage. I didn't want you thinking of me like that." 

Eliza couldn't believe she'd raised a girl so selfless as to think that way, it hurt her more that Caitlyn had kept it from her, that she'd been hurting all that time and kept it inside. When that godawful family had abducted them she was scared, but the sliver of hope that kept her going was the thought of her daughter. Shed thanked her lucky stars to find Caitlyn alive after the incident, but now everything was different. It made sense, why Caitlyn was so steely after she'd found them again, why she immediately wanted her independence. 

"Mother?" Caitlyn said as she saw the tears forming in the older woman’s eyes. 

"You need to let people in Caity." She said with a chuckle as she wiped the droplet from her eyes. 

"You're a silly girl, we could have taken you to a doctor, gotten you help? What if you were pregnant?" She said, turning her emotion back against Caitlyn as a defence mechanism. 

"I know." Caitlyn whispered, if anything thankful that her mother was scolding her instead of crying.

"Is that why you drank so much, that night with Vi? You told her didn't you, that's why she stayed." Her mother deduced. 

Caitlyn nodded, glad she had gotten her detective skills from someone in the family. 

"She was the first person I told, and she didn't leave my side all night." She said sadly, looking to the floor as the memories floated back. For a second she could feel her lips pressed against the enforcers, just for a second. 

"Vi was good for you." Eliza said before realising what she'd said. The truth was she missed her, and she hadn't realised how much she had gotten used to the enforcers company until now.

“I know. I could be happy if I just knew she was safe.” She replied, biting her lip. 

“I know it may overstep the mark, but maybe you could just ask around? There must be someone she’s close to?” Eliza said cautiously, she knew she was overstepping boundaries, but she too was worried about Vi. Caitlyn nodded, she knew who to go too, Cherie would know. 

“I think so.” She replied. 

“Go to her love, if you think it will help you, then it’s what you have to do.” Eliza said confidently. Caitlyn was thankful for that, she had lost her direction since Vi had left, sure she had a city to protect, but that wasn’t quite the same anymore. If she had a reason to follow Vi, to make sure she was okay, then she had something to focus on, and that couldn’t be bad. Shortly after the conversation with her mother, she apologised to Blakeley and explained to him where she was. His response was to grab a bottle of wine, slip it into his coat pocket and entice his cousin away from the dreary evening with it. And so they left, without a single word to anyone else. 

Once their guests had all departed Eliza approached her husband with a sympathetic smile, his frown didn’t waiver. “She’s with Blake she’s fine. Did she explain to you what happened or would you like me to tell you?” 

“I don’t believe it is any of my business. I think it was good that she kept that to herself.” He said firmly. 

“Cedric!” She hissed. “That is your daughter, our baby. 

“And she wants to ruin her own life because of one bad man-” He started. 

“Cedric she has always been this way, and she always will be! It was written before she even entered the world, there is no point blaming any of it on her.” She said, interrupting her husband.

“I thought if she was out of the picture maybe she’d at least give someone else a chance.” He shook his head. 

“What!? Cedric Beaumont did you have something to do with Vi leaving?” She asked, her brows furrowed the same way Caitlyn’s did. 

He stayed quiet, his lips thin and still.

“What did you do?” She glared. 

“I didn’t do anything. I was honest with her, I simply told her how my - our daughter was doing.” He said, his hands firmly to his side. “Her career was hanging by a thread!” He said, defending his actions. This was where Caitlyn got her stubbornness from. 

“That was not because of her! Do you think she looks happy now? Because my god if you do then you don’t know your own daughter in the slightest.” She said, pointing her finger at him. “This is the most miserable I have seen her in my life and now you’re telling me it’s because of you.” Her nostrils flared as she tried to get her head around the situation. She was certain this was why Vi had left.

“You know what? I’m not in the slightest bit surprised that she isn’t interested in being with a man, sometimes I wonder why I'M with one!” She hissed, turning away from the conversation and heading up the stairs. Cedric stood there, glaring into the marble stubbornly.

A few moments later a blanket flew down the staircase in front of him, it slid down the last few marble steps and landed at his feet. As he bent down to pick it up, accepting the fate of his sofa awaiting sleep, a pillow flew down and hit him on the back with a BOOF. 

“Sleep well!.” She said through clenched teeth as she turned back to her bedroom with a satisfied smile. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Eliza should be a champion honestly I love her too much 
> 
> Pls review love u bye xx


	24. XXIV

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vi’s first port of call

Laszlo rolled his eyes as the pink-haired brawler approached him with her usual swagger. 

“Ay man how ya doin?” She smiled sweetly, leaning on the cracked bar side in front of him. 

“What do  _ you _ want?” He said. 

“You wanna give me my old job back?” she said, retracting to her usual posture. 

“Pfft so you can drink half my profit again? They don’t pay you enough up there??” He said raising his eyebrows in disbelief. 

“They did, but uhh, long story short I’m not cut out for Piltovian women and no I don’t wanna talk about it.” She said quickly. 

“Ouch.” He picked up a glass and a towel and handed them to her. “I’ll think about it alright? Come back in an hour.” 

“Why in an hour?” She said looking puzzled. 

“Because  _ she’s _ been drowning her sorrows in that corner ever since she met you that night.” He nodded towards the redhead nursing a drink in the back corner of the tavern. 

“Kara? Jeez I didn’t expect that.” 

“Mhm.” 

“Wish me luck.” She said as she poured herself a drink before heading over, receiving a huff from the bartender himself.

Kara looked up at Vi before she reached the chair in front of her. 

"Look what the cops dragged in." She said waggling her crimson brows. Dark circles framed her light teal irises. 

"Funny you should say that." Vi said as she sat herself down. 

"So what the Sheriff decided she didn't need her pet anymore?" She said her face flat and unwavering. 

"I left because -" Vi paused "I was getting too... involved." 

"Ah. Now that explains a  _ lot _ ." Kara said nodding slowly at the new information.

Vi raised her eyebrows expecting more from the sentence. Kara read the girls puzzled expression.

"She was prickly as fuck when she interviewed me about our night together." She said, a small smile played on her red lips. 

Vi sniggered, how could she forget how jealous Caitlyn was that day? A pang of guilt rippled through her. 

"How are you holding up?" She asked, leaning back in her chair. 

"I'm alive." Kara said, pretending to ‘cheers’ the air with her glass. 

"You miss him?" Vi asked, one eyebrow cocked expectantly.

"A bit. It’s not like he was my one true love. I just drink to forget the guilt." She sniggered. "And just maybe I hoped that a certain  _ someone _ would bowl through those cheap wooden doors. _ "  _ She said, sending knowing eyes towards the zaunite.

"Nice to know I'm still thought about." Vi said with a wink. 

"Probably more than you'd imagine." Kara whispered biting her lip as she looked down at her glass. “How are  _ you _ holding up?” She said echoing Vi’s sentiment. 

Vi shifted uncomfortably in her seat.  _ How was she doing? _

“I’m bored.” She said with a chuckle. “When I left, I said it was to go after my sister-” 

“The crazy bitch with the blue hair?” Kara asked swiftly, taking a swig of her drink.

Vi raised her eyebrows reasoning with the bold wording. “Yes, that would be her.” 

“So why aren’t you, you know, running after her?” She asked. 

“I guess I didn’t plan any further than … the break up.” She said, trailing off. 

“Makes sense I guess. You got somewhere to stay?” She asked, a small part of her hoping for a negative response.

“Yeah.” She lied. If she was gonna go after Jessa, then she couldn’t stay with Cherie, she wasn’t going to put anyone close to her at risk, not again.

“Then go look for her!” She scoffed. “What are you waiting for?”  
  


Vi knew what she was waiting for, she was putting it off because a huge part of her was terrified of the truth; Jessa was too far gone for help, and deep down she knew that. 

Nevertheless, she told Laszlo to hold the job front for a while, she couldn’t have a permanent place right now. She couldn’t endanger anyone. And so, off she went, back to the streets, the sumps and the depths of Zaun itself. A tiny part of her was excited, but a huge part of her already missed that almond and rose shower gel in the Sheriff’s bathroom already. ` _ Piltover’s spoilt me to death.  _

She thought as she began the climb down to the lowest point of Zaun, the Sump. She couldn't tell if she was nervous or excited at this point, so she would have to see where her feet took her.

**

For the next few days, Vi kept her ear out for any strange goings on that might be at the hands of her sibling. She got herself into a few fights in the midst of it, but there was no sign of Jessa anywhere. Then one night, she followed a whim, she’d go and check out the upturned carriage that she and her used to play in.  _ What’s home without a little nostalgia? _ She thought to herself. 

When she got there she realised how much higher the sump had risen since she’d last been here, it would have made it much harder to access the derelict carriage, had there not had been a wooden beam balanced like a bridge towards it. She readied herself as she heard a gasp and out of nowhere a gun aimed around the doorway at her, followed by a skinny pale arm. 

“Jessa it’s me.” Vi said rolling her eyes. 

“It’s not Jessa anymore it’s JINX!” She said childishly. 

“Whatever I’m coming in.” Vi said, climbing up the beam towards the open door way. 

“Hey fathands.” She said, sitting herself back down on one of the passenger seats, throwing her feet upon the one in front. 

“Hey.” Vi said, as she leant herself against one of the windows in front of her sister. She crossed her arms over her chest and glared slightly at the smaller girl. 

“Heard you ditched the Pilty-pigs! Nice, How’d hat-lady take that?” She said fidgeting on her seat. 

“Do you even realise how much shit you caused?" She said, unleashing her frustration. "You blew up my friggin house!”

“Hey I didn’t mean to do that! I thought it was Hat-lady’s, I got confused!” She said holding her hands up. Vi’s eyes seared through the girls head.

“Why? Just why?” Vi said shaking her head in disbelief. 

Jinx paused for a minute, she pretended to think for a little while. “Bored?” She suggested. 

Vi sighed and pinched her forehead, she was beginning to lose her patience and wondering why she came. She turned to pace along the aisle of the carriage, a habit she’d picked up from the Sheriff. 

“Please don’t leave!” Jinx said, her voice more genuine than ever. Her guilt resurfaced as she pictured the little innocent girl that she used to be. 

“I’m not going anywhere!” She said, sounding defeated by her own choices. 

She felt her run up behind and wrap her tiny arms around her waist. “You can't just blow shit up because you're bored Jinx, you need to stop. And for god sake eat something you’ve barely changed in size since I last saw you and that was over ten years ago!” She said, placing her hands on top of her sister’s. 

“I’ll try I promise.” She said into the back of Vi’s clothes. Vi sighed.  _ How did she get back here? _

_ ***  _

The sheriff knocked on the perfectly painted yellow door, she waited patiently, her hands clasped at her front. 

The door opened to Cherie who smiled warmly towards her. 

"Ah Sheriff, I wondered when you'd come." She chuckled. "Come in." She said with a smile. Caitlyn smiled back and stepped into the warm family home, slightly taken aback by Cherie's comments. 

"Feel free to sit down!" She said showing her to the living room. "She told me everything sweetheart." She said, her eyebrows furrowed. 

"You've seen her? Was she okay? Did she have any injuries, has she been fighting?" Caitlyn said, a little embarrassed by her forwardness, she had intended to seem professional but surprised herself.

"Not at all, she was fine, normal even - if not a bit depressed of course." Cherie said. 

"What do you mean? I thought.. I thought she’d be happy. She was so sure when she told me she was leaving." Caitlyn whispered. 

Cherie bit her lip, she didn't know whether it would overstep her bounds to tell the Sheriff what Vi had told her. 

"I don't think it was entirely her decision my dear." She said, biting the bullet. It had hurt her to see Vi so downtrodden.

"Please enlighten me Miss Rowe, what is it that's bothering you?" Caitlyn said, her voice more orderly than before. She could tell the woman was avoiding saying something. 

"I believe a conversation took place, that might have influenced her." She said, avoiding the harsh eye contact. "Between Vi and.. your father."

Caitlyn took a sharp breath, she focused on the mantlepiece in front of them, full of happy family photos.  _ Of course he had something to do with this, why wouldn't he try and manipulate my story any further?  _

"Thank you, for being honest with me. I appreciate it." She said, swallowing her emotion. 

"Might you know where I can find her?" She asked tentatively. 

Cherie shook her head. “She went to find her sister, she could be anywhere.” 

Caitlyn bit her lip, this was her job, she could sniff out a thief from miles away, but now it counted, now it was important to her, she began to doubt herself. 

“If I may be so bold.” Cherie said softly. “Is it the relationship itself that your parents are not comfortable with or is it Vi?” She asked. 

“My mother doesn’t mind, she is supportive if anything. Her and Vi got on like a house on fire, If I wasn’t her daughter myself I would think they were mother and child.” She chuckled. “It is my father alone who expresses his discomfort at every opportunity given to him. He despises the concept of anything different, ‘set in his ways’ my mother says. You should have seen his face when I told him.” She chuckled. 

“Told him?” 

“That I have zero interest in pursuing men.” She said with a smirk. 

Cherie chuckled. “I know the feeling, my mother refused to accept it. So I built my own family.” She said with a proud look on her face. “Give it time, he may come round, especially if your mother is so supportive.” Caitlyn nodded, it felt nice, to know someone in the same boat. Sure she had Blakeley, but sometimes it was hard to get him to take things seriously. 

“I wish Vi had been there, I can only imagine what she would have said to him!” She said. They both erupted into laughter, with visions of an infuriated Vi in their minds. 

“I think Vi could charm anyone into liking her.” Cherie said. 

Caitlyn nodded, a sad smile played on her lips. Vi wasn’t hers anymore, but could she be? 

Cherie watched the Sheriff, in her years of being a mother, she had learnt much about reading peoples emotions. She could tell the Sheriff had a lot on her mind, and she wasn’t surprised for that matter. She couldn’t help but take hold of Caitlyn’s cool hand, she squeezed it lovingly.

“You’ll find her. Things will work out the way they should.” She said firmly. 

“Thank you.” Caitlyn said. She was surprised at her willingness to open up to the woman before her, she used to be such a closed book. That was before she met Vi.

  
  



	25. XXV

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Caitlyn investigates

Caitlyn started her search in the most logical place she could think of, Laszlo's. Vi’s first port of call for most occasions, she knew that Vi wouldn’t go anywhere without talking to him first.

Just as she expected the pubs demeanor completely altered as soon as the Sheriff walked through the door. Each and every punter was internally noting every law they’d ever broken, some of them shifting uncomfortably. Some stiffened in their seats puffing their chests out ready for a challenge, others shifted their feet uncomfortably, unsure how to react to their anxiety.

Laszlo raised his eyebrows at the woman as she stood in the doorway, he was the only one that wasn’t intimidated by her.

"To what do I owe the honor ma'am." He said stiffly. He was slightly irksome towards her, she had disturbed the atmosphere in his pub and if she made a habit of it he’d lose loyal customers.

"Please, call me Caitlyn." She cleared her throat. "I am not here on business." She said, loudly, vaguely aware of the suspicion her presence had brought to the room. The people around her relaxed somewhat.

His eyes followed the tables of punters behind her. "I’m going to assume you aren’t here for a pint.” He said.

"No, thank you. I’m looking for Vi, has she been here?" She said. 

He smirked back at her and towards another punter at the bar. "You kick her out and now you want her back? Women.” He chuckled. 

Her eyes remained flat and unimpressed. "I didn’t ask her to leave. What exactly did she say to you? " She asked, did she lie to them?

"Nah she didn’t wanna talk about it, I only assumed she’d done something stupid. So she left herself huh? Not surprised mind you, she ain’t the kind you keep on a leash." He said, leaning against the side. 

"Did she say where she was staying, or where she planned to go?"

He smirked. “Do ya know how many women I get in here ‘Looking for Vi’?” He said, air quoting with his fingers with a grin on his face.

“This is important Laszlo I don’t think you understand- ” 

A voice cut in, a vaguely familiar one. "She's lookin’ for her sister." 

Caitlyn turned immediately towards the voice, the red hair and blue eyes, a little more tired than before, but there was no doubt. It was Kara. 

"Whoah calm it with the glare Princess, we didn't fuck this time if that's what you're thinking." Kara smirked. "She’s still not over a  _ certain someone _ . Much to my disappointment." She teased. 

"Did she say specifically where she was going?" Caitlyn said, her patience running thin. 

"No. I'm sure you'll work it out with your suave detective skills." Kara replied with a grin. 

Caitlyn shook her head in exasperation, she murmured a firm thanks and left without another word, she didn’t have time for this. 

Her next port of call was the charred remains of the underground test site. Although she thought it unlikely that Vi - and her sister for that matter - would  _ want  _ to be in that place again, a small part of her thought that if Vi wanted to fix Jinx, that would be the first place she’d go.

It wasn't easy to find, based on the description of a cut-out news article that only  _ briefly  _ described the half hidden building’s location. What she did know, was that it was the lowest part of the sump, where the gray was thick and heavy. It had gotten so much worse over recent years, and as she reached the lower zones her lungs ached more and more. She had to stop for a moment to catch her breath, she pulled out a handkerchief and held it across her lips, hoping to filter out some of the fumes. She wondered if Vi was struggling to be back in Zaun, had she gotten too used to the clean Piltovian air? 

Once Caitlyn had found the entrance to the dilapidated building it became clear to her that not many had ventured here at all. It was well hidden, the black charred exterior blended with the darkness of the sump, the fractured wooden skeleton of the building matching the broken shards of pipe that burst through most of the structures in Zaun. As she explored the front of the building, she realised that not all of the rooms had been entirely destroyed. The foundations had to be damp, to have avoided such damage. Damp wasn’t uncommon in Zaun, the sunlight barely reached the entresol let alone the slums. 

She grimaced as she turned a corner, passing the remainder of an upturned door, she tilted her head as she noted the iron bars across it. There was a room next to the door, evidently the room it used to be attached too. 

As she stepped into the room the smell of damp hit her, even through the cotton handkerchief. It was a very small square room, with very low ceilings. It was almost completely empty, with just a bed frame and a commode in the corner.  _ Did someone live here? _ She wondered. The jail cells in Piltover were nicer than this.

She jumped as the door behind slipped further to the floor, dropping her handkerchief in surprise. As she bent down to pick it up, she noticed something on one of the walls. They were blackened with mould but there was a part of it that wasn’t, like it had been scratched away. Was it a pattern?  _ No _ . She thought as she got closer, it was writing, etched into the concrete wall. Her heart dropped as she read the words.

“Jessa + Violet.” She whispered, chills racing across her skin.  _ This is where they were kept _ . She thought. She was right, that room would be a prison to any adult, but to a child? An absolute hell. 

It was hard for her not to imagine two little girls, huddled up in the corner, holding onto each other for dear life. She held tightly onto the handkerchief, her teeth clenching as her anger made itself known.

Usually on the heavier cases the Sheriff would take advantage of her own weakness, her ability to block out her own emotions. But this time it wasn’t that simple, the children in this case were already grown up, and she could see the damage the city had caused to them. It wasn’t a case she could step away from and forget, not anymore. 

She her eyebrows glared in an instant, her focus was back, she was ready and determined to find something, anything, that would give her a lead. 

As she moved, the floor creaked angrily beneath her. She looked down, noticing a basement hatch underneath her. She got onto her knees and pulled it up, revealing a dark and dusty set of stairs. It was an old wine cellar, or something of the sort, but it had been transformed into a private lab. It must have been one of the most well preserved rooms in the building. She shone her torch down the steps, it glinted off numerous beakers all empty and dried up of course, but it looked safe. She gently took the steps down, treading incredibly carefully, just in case the floor was completely rotten. 

The room was big, it had a desk on one side, lots of what looked like medical posters, and diagrams. It was all damaged by age and damp, maybe smoke exposure too? She didn’t stand much chance of finding anything helpful if it was all in such terrible condition, and that worried her as she looked around. And then she saw it, half buried in debris, down the side of the stairs. A solid Zaunite Steel lockbox. From where it was resting it was as if someone had tried to take it, but dropped it on the way out.  _ Perhaps in the fire _ . She thought as she pulled out a hairpin and bent it out of shape. After a few failed attempts her knees began to ache against the floor, she leant back, took a deep breath and tried one last time to pick the lock. With that, the lock clicked open, revealing wads of completely disorganised papers. She sighed defeatedly, pulling herself up from the floor empty handed. She was about to leave, but she paused for a second with one door on the first step before turning back and gathering up the papers in her arms.

After dredging the building with furiously thorough eyes, she found nothing that she had hoped for. And then, just as she was leaving, her eyes caught something else glimmering underneath more rubble. She cleared a space around it gently, revealing a cylindrical glass object, as she pulled it out of the debris she realised exactly what it was. A syringe. 

She bit her tongue as she noticed how thick the needle was, even imagining the feeling of that piercing skin made the Sheriff feel slightly sick.  _ Surely this wasn’t used on them _ . She thought, horrified by the idea. No wonder Vi was terrified of hospitals. 

As she studied the barrel of the syringe, she noticed there was some sort of residue, of course over the years it had almost completely dried up, resembling more of a dried glue substance. But this could be everything they needed, if she could find a doctor, or a scientist, perhaps they could study it and find out exactly what it was, and if it could help Jinx. Maybe even save her?

___________________________________________________________________________

  
  


Vi woke up with a loud snort as something crashed in the near distance. “What the-“ she responded sitting up quickly. She looked around in panic as she realised her sister wasn’t there. 

“Jessa? Fuck- JESSA?!” She shouted. A nearby street kid gave her a funny look. “What?” She sneered. She pulled on her gauntlets and started to run in the same direction as the sound before realising she needed help. 

“Wait kid- do ya know what that was?” She said quickly.

“Not from round here huh? That’s the institute dumping their waste down the east sump pits. Every Wednesday they do it, it’s what’s makin’ the gray so bad lately. Tsk, Pilties.” He said as he put a hand on his hip. His head tilted as he studied the woman before him.

“Hey I know you-” He said. 

“Ahh, sorry kid I gotta bounce!” She said sympathetically, jogging away. Now wasn’t the time for making friends.

She looked everywhere she could for her sister, she was starting to worry. She ran through every place she could be, she’d looked everywhere she could think of. That’s when she realised how close they were to Hope House, it was the only place that Jinx knew. How could she forget? 

She ran, as fast as she could, knowing fully well how badly things could go from now on. Her mind thought the worst, as she whispered prayers to the Grey Lady for the first time in her life. 

When she skidded to the entrance to Hope House she saw the wiring, it was twisted around the base of the building, several explosives were attached in patterned intervals. There wasn’t time for her to catch her breath, she probably only had minutes before they detonated. 

“Hey sis!” Jinx turned to Vi with a proud grin, it wasn’t evil, the girl didn’t have bad intentions in the slightest. Not in her mind anyway.

Vi ran and ripped up the wires, gathering the dormant explosives up in her arms, she looked around to make sure no one had seen them. They were safe, bar one child who was staring at them through the window and waving happily. Jinx waved back with an innocent smile before being whipped away by her older sister. 

Vi threw the explosives into a nearby puddle, hearing a whine from the younger girl. She pulled her into an alley. 

“What the FUCK!?” She said yanking on her arm in attempts to wake her up. 

“Oww get off me you’re hurting.” She whined. 

“Shut up. Why did you do that?” Vi shouted. “Why?!”

“I remembered it was nearby and we had so many bad memories there, I wanted to make them go away. It was for both of us, for you!” She said, sounding childlike and innocent.

“No! Jessa, there are  _ children  _ in there! Babies, like we were. They haven’t even had a chance in life and you’re gonna blow them up before they get one!” She hissed as she started anxiously pacing.

“I never got one.” Jinx sneered. 

“What?” Vi said, she was taken aback. “The only chance I was ever given was from Caitlyn.” Vi said. Jinx screwed up her nose at the mention of someone else’s name. “She gave me a direction, a purpose, a friggin  _ future _ ! And I gave that up for you!” She frowned. “So don’t you tell me, no one ever gave you a chance!” 

“I’m sorry!” She said, her voice squeaking a little. 

“You need to  _ think _ about what you’re doing and the consequences of it!” 

Jinx nodded, she seemed so small when she was being told off. Vi looked at her for a second, she felt a twinge of guilt, like she’d just told off a puppy. She leant her back on the wall next to her sister and let out a cathartic growl as she rubbed her temples.  _ Was this what it was like for Caitlyn when she first got me? _ She thought as she paralleled their situations. She could hear the older woman’s voice in her head “Patience love.” It whispered. She sighed.

“Cmon, let’s go find some breakfast.” She said getting up from her crouch, trying to avoid the thoughts of regret as she realised how hard it was to be responsible for someone so chaotic. Jinx smiled happily, assuming that this was forgiveness. She had already mentally planned her ideal breakfast in her head. 

Hundreds and hundreds of pancakes. 

  
  
  



End file.
